§ Lord Joplingasked Her Majesty's Government:
248WAWhat assessment they have made of the likelihood of the occurrence of another nuclear incident similar to that of Chernobyl, either in the Russian Federation or in one of the Soviet-built reactors in the former states of the Soviet Union. [HL5716]
§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleThe Government maintain a close interest in the safety of Soviet-designed nuclear power plants, both as a signatory to the IAEA Nuclear Safety Convention and through their membership of the G7 Nuclear Safety Working Group.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant incident occurred as a result of the operation of the plant in an unauthorised and hazardous manner. Since that time all Soviet-designed, first generation reactors have been subject to substantial safety upgrades for which the UK has provided funding either bilaterally or through multilateral programmes.
In general most later generation Soviet-designed nuclear power plants now approach or meet western standards of safety. However, concern still remains over the continued operation of Chernobyl type RBMK reactors and first generation pressurised water reactors of Soviet design, which cannot be fully upgraded.
Although the chance of a repeat of a Chernobyl type incident is considered remote, the Government, with G7 partners and the EU, continue to press Russia for the earliest possible closure and decommissioning of their first generation reactors. Closure of such plants is also being made a condition for the EU accession of Lithuania, Bulgaria and Slovakia. The EU is leading negotiations with Armenia, with a view to the closure of their one nuclear power plant. All nuclear power plants of concern within the Ukraine are now closed, with the final reactor on the Chernobyl site being taken out of service in December 2000.