§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many safety reports on Sellafield have been completed by the Health and Safety Executive over the last five years; and have been withheld from public release under the provisions of section 28 of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974. [47876]
§ Mr. BattleI have been asked to reply.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), as the statutory nuclear safety regulator, produces a large number of internal documents each year which relate to safety at Sellafield. These are working documents produced as part of the dialogue between HSE and BNFL about what actions must be taken to comply with the law and to maintain or improve standards of safety. They can range from single page minutes to more substantial documents.
Because they contain material obtained in pursuance of HSE's regulatory duties, most of these working documents are subject to the restrictions on their disclosure provided for under Section 28 of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974. It must be understood, however, that Section 28 also provides for exceptions to these restrictions, empowering HSE to make regulatory information public at any time if it believes that this is necessary to discharge its statutory functions to protect the health and safety of workers and the public.
It is HSE's policy to be as open as possible about issues which arise in respect of nuclear sites. To this end, HSE site inspectors produce regular reports which are given to the Local Community Liaison Committee for each licensed site. In addition, HSE publishes reports summarising the important aspects of major decisions or investigations. HSE has published ten such reports in the last five years.