§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many special safety inspection visits have been paid to(a) Sellafield and (b) Dounreay by environmental safety experts from the Euratom Agency in each year since 1990; and if he will place copies of reports in the Library. [115359]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe Euratom Treaty does not give the European Commission any responsibility for carrying out safety inspections of nuclear installations. However, Article 35 of the Treaty gives the Commission a right of access to facilities necessary for continuous monitoring of the level of radioactivity in the air, water and soil. Commission visits to verify the operation and efficiency 719W of such facilities were made to Caithness (Dounreay) in May 1993 and March 1999 and to Cumbria (Sellafield) in December 1993. Copies of the reports of the two visits made in 1993 have already been placed in the Library of the House. The report on the 1999 visit to Caithness (Dounreay) has still to be finalised by the Commission.