§ Ms Roseanna CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade on what date the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate memorandum, A Summary of the Dounreay FCA Inspection Findings, was brought to her attention; what assurances she(a) sought and (b) received from the HSE that Dounreay was a suitable destination for the waste from Georgia; what action she took in response to the document; and if she will make a statement. [46786]
§ Mr. Battle[holding answer 23 June 1998]: The existence of this memorandum was first brought to my attention on 29 May 1998 and it was published by the Health and Safety Executive on 15 June 1998. HSE had sent a copy of the memorandum to DTI officials in June 1997 and they discussed its contents with UKAEA at the time, in particular to satisfy themselves that UKAEA had sufficient resources to address any necessary improvements at the Dounreay site.
The Health and Safety Executive was consulted before it was decided to accept the Georgian consignment, and it was satisfied that the material could be safely stored at Dounreay.
Many of the issues raised in the memorandum are now being scrutinised carefully by the safety audit being conducted by the Health and Safety Executive and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Any
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Agency name Date of transaction Type of Transaction Name of buyer/buyers Price agreed DVOIT 17 December 1993 Trade sale EDS £5.5 million National Engineering Laboratory 1 November 1995 Trade sale Assessment Services Limited £1.95 million subject to adjustments as set out in the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts which are under negotiation Laboratory of the Government Chemist 31 March 1996 Share sale LGC (Holdings) Limited Baseline price of £0.36 million, subject to adjustments, payment of £1.96 million to LGC (Teddington) Ltd. and further possible payment of £0.3 million as set out in the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts Transport Research Laboratory 31 March 1996 Management buyout Transport Research Foundation £3.1 million Natural Resources Institute 1 May 1996 Transfer of ownership Consortium of the University of Greenwich, Edinburgh University, Imperial College and Wye College There was no transfer of funds, but a nominal consideration was paid by Greenwich which is subject to an adjustment Chessington Computer Centre 31 July 1996 Trade sale A consortium comprising and employee buyout team, Integris UK and Close Brothers £12.5 million £1.25 million which has been deferred until 31 December 1999 Occupational Health and Safety Agency 18 September 1996 Trade sale BMI Health Services £350,000 HMSO 30 September 1996 Trade sale National Publishing Group plc—as consortium led by Electra Flemming £54 million Recruitment and Assessment Services Agency 30 September 1996 Trade sale Capita Group plc £7.25 million Building Research Establishment 19 March 1997 Management buyout Management buyout team £1.7 million, subject to adjustments which are under negotiation recommendations arising from this audit will be made public, and I will expect UKAEA to take all appropriate action.
§ Sir Robert SmithTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if the TRIGA fuel from Billingham to be reprocessed under Dounreay's contract with ICI has been delivered to Dounreay. [48035]
§ Mr. BattleIt has not been delivered. At present UKAEA are not accepting any new nuclear material onto the Dounreay site, and they will not do so until after they have satisfied their regulators.