§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in the event of stocks of depleted uranium, or a differently named substance with the same properties, being held at a non-military base, there is a requirement on the company holding the stocks to notify the relevant local authority so that such information can be included in their emergency planning information. [HL1173]
§ Lord WhittyThe Health and Safety Commission and Executive are responsible for regulating the health and safety of people at work. Employers working with large quantities of radioactive substances where off-site emergency plans and arrangements to inform the public may be necessary must comply with the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (IRR99), the Public Information for Radiation Emergencies Regulations 1992 (PIKER), and the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (NIA65, as amended, for nuclear licensed sites). This would include employers working with depleted uranium if the stock was sufficiently large.
PIRER places a duty on employers that, where a radiation emergency is reasonably foreseeable and the public are likely to be in an area where they are liable to be affected by such an emergency, prior information is provided by the employer to members of the public. The approach is to consider, first, whether the quantities of radioactive substances are sufficient to require either an assessment under IRR99 or a review under licence conditions under NIA65, and second, to consider whether a radiation emergency could be considered to be reasonably foreseeable. Currently, the only sites requiring off-site emergency plans are nuclear sites and these plans are prepared by local authorities, who are also involved in the provision of information to the public.
§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the guidance from the Department of Health to those employers who have staff who work with depleted uranium products? [HL1174]
§ Lord WhittyThe Health and Safety Commission and Executive are responsible for regulating the health and safety of people at work. The Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 apply to any employer who works with ionising radiations, including depleted uranium.
The aim of the regulations and the supporting approved code of practice and guidance is to help employers to establish a risk management framework so that exposure to ionising radiation is kept, not merely below the specified dose limits for individuals, but as low as is reasonably practicable. The guidance covers general precautions for staff who work with radioactive materials but it is not specific to work with depleted uranium products. Depleted uranium 162WA also has a recognised chemical toxicity and will be subject to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1999, and the associated approved code of practice and guidance.
§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether there are any stores of depleted uranium, either known by that name or by another name but having the same properties as depleted uranium, being held in non-military bases in the United Kingdom. [HL1172]
§ The Minister for Science, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)Quantities of depleted uranium are held at licensed sites operated by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd and Urenco (mainly at Springfields and Capenhurst but also some stored as waste at UKAEA Harwell). Following processing and separation, depleted uranium is generally stored in the form of compounds of uranium (e.g. uranium oxide and uranium hexafluoride) rather than as depleted uranium metal.