§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consultation took place with regulatory authorities in relation to the appropriateness of BNFL as a partner in the consortium set up to bid for the contract to manage AWE. [113667]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 9 March 2000]: MOD has regular meetings with officials of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate and of the Environment Agency on safety and environment at AWE, including the conduct and progress of the competition to appoint a new management and operating contractor. Both bodies were consulted on the suitability of all consortia member companies before RFQs (Requests for Quotation) were issued for the competition and both have been kept fully informed of developments. On 13 April 1999, the NII and EA made presentations to BNFL and all other parent companies of the competing consortia informing them of the standards that would be required of the successful contractors. Both regulators were given copies of each consortium's management prospectus and bid material relevant to environmental, safety and health matters. The NII has also given presentations and has taken part in syndicate discussions and assessment meetings with bidders. Finally, as detailed to my hon. Friend the Member for Reading, West (Mr. Salter) on 29 March 2000, Official Report, columns 159-60W, the most recent review found nothing which would cause them to oppose AWE ML's take over of the sites on 1 April.
§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the criteria against which the applications for the new contract to run AWE Aldermaston were assessed. [113668]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 9 March 2000]: In assessing bids to manage and operate the Atomic Weapons Establishment from 1 April 2000 information was required from all participating consortia to demonstrate that their parent companies met full compliance on safety performance. This was essential to 487W qualify for further consideration of the bids. Once over this hurdle assessment was made against the following criteria:
Safety (the risk of harm and potential harm to people, property and the environment to be as low as reasonably practicable).National Capability (the ability of AWE to underwrite safety and reliability of nuclear warheads without recourse to nuclear testing and to maintain minimum capability to design and produce a successor to Trident if this were to be deemed necessary).Security (the protection of assets, information and people).Management (including the provision of Directors, adequate management measurement criteria and public relations).Infrastructure (the maintenance of the capital asset base to support outputs and waste management and decommissioning).Material (the production and through life support of weapons).Commercial (including the costs of the contract).
§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the areas of responsibility assigned to each of the three members of the AWE management consortium under the terms of the contract to manage the AWE Aldermaston site. [116344]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 27 March 2000]: It is intended that at the start of the contract responsibilities will be allocated to parent company nominees as follows:
Serco—Chief Executive, Business Services, and CommunicationsLockheed Martin—Deputy Chief Executive, Research, and ProductionBNFL—Assurance. Infrastructure, and Human Resources and Strategic Development.