§ Mrs. GilroyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list the maximum design accidents assessed by the Nuclear Powered Warships Committee following a near instantaneous loss of primary circuit coolant which are in place for the Swiftsure and Trafalgar nuclear powered submarines in operation near and in the Devonport Royal Dockyard; what is the anticipated frequency of MDA per reactor year; what is the core inventory in terms of the fission products Kr, Xe, I, Te, Cs, Sr, and Ru for the nominated MDA for a reactor that(a) is at Plant State A and (b) has recently been derated to Plant State B on the basis of the Standard Core History for the average reactor in-core life for the currently operational Core Z fuel charge; if he will place in the Library copies of his Department's BR1, BR 3018, BR 3019, BR3020, BR 3025 and BR 3030 documents and where appropriate the documents that have superseded them; and if he will make a statement; [121412]
(2) if, in relation to the refitting and refuelling of Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarines at Devonport Royal Dockyard, he will provide the Reference, MDA or Design Basics Accidents (a) applicable to periods (i) when the boat is under repair in the dry dock facility, other than when refuelling, (ii) when the boat is being defuelled in preparation for refuelling for the nuclear reactor, including the transition of the irradiated fuel to the dockyard storage locality and (iii) when the boat is out of commission and awaiting decommissioning without and with irradiated fuel in the reactor core and (b) relating to the treatment, packaging and storage of past and present arisings of radioactive waste undertaken and held at the Dockyard; and if he will make a statement. [121348]
§ Mr. SpellarResponse plans for a nuclear accident during submarine operations, including refitting, refuelling, fuel and waste handling, within HM Naval Base and the Royal Dockyard, Devonport are firmly based on detailed analysis and comply with appropriate legislation (in particular the Ionising Radiations Regulations). Probabilistic techniques are employed where appropriate in this analysis.
163WThe radioactive inventories and source terms used in this analysis are classified, because they are related to sensitive information about the design of naval propulsion reactors. I am, therefore, withholding this information under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. However, work is underway within my Department to respond to the forthcoming Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulation (REPPIR) which are expected to require that some aspects of the hazard assessments are made available to the public. Some information of this nature is already available in the document DEVPUBSAFE.
I am placing a copy of Joint Service Publication JSP392 (Instructions for Radiological Protection, which replaced Book of Reference BR3020) together with BR3030 Vol. 1, in the Library of the House. The other documents listed are classified and I am, therefore, withholding them under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.