Out-Law News 2 min. read
02 Dec 2011, 3:47 pm
In its response (6-page / 55KB PDF) to the final report by chief nuclear inspector Dr Michael Weightman that was published in October, the Government said it was committed to working with its international partners in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on developing an 'Action Plan' for future incidents.
It would also work with the governments of other countries to consider how the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident could be further improved "in terms of both efficiency and substance", it said.
However, Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said that the UK's "full participation" in the EU's nuclear stress test initiative meant that he would not order a separate safety assessment for the country's nuclear power plants.
Huhne also agreed with the inspector's overall conclusion that there was no reason why the UK could not continue to encourage the use of nuclear power generation as part of its low-carbon energy policy.
Weightman was asked by Huhne to consider the implications of the explosion at Fukushima on the UK's nuclear industry.
The majority of his recommendations were set out in an interim report, published in May of this year, which had given the Government enough time to act on his findings.
The Government was already carrying out a review of the Japanese response to the widespread civil emergency that occurred in the aftermath of the disaster, Huhne said in the response.
"We will then compare our findings with our own civil contingency planning to identify whether there are lessons that can be learnt from the Japanese experience to improve our own planned response to catastrophic emergencies," he said.
The National Emergency Planning Liaison Group (NEPLG) conducted a review of the UK's current emergency arrangements in May following the Weightman Interim Report, he said.
The opportunities for improvement NEPLG had identified formed part of a wider programme of work currently being finalised by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
Huhne also said that the work that was currently taking place to create a new statutory Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) would take into account Weightman's openness and transparency recommendations.
"The intention is for the statutory ONR's five year Strategy, annual plan, annual report and accounts to all be shown to Parliament as well as widely published by the statutory ONR itself. In addition, the Secretary of State will report to Parliament on any directions that he gives to the statutory ONR as well as the use of his powers such as making appointments to the statutory ONR board," Huhne said.
In a written ministerial statement, Energy Minister Charles Henry also set out the Government's views on its long-term management of the UK's plutonium stocks.
In its response to an earlier consultation, the Government proposes to convert the vast majority of UK-owned civil-separated plutonium into mixed oxide fuel (MOX) for use in civil nuclear reactors. Any plutonium which could not be converted would be treated as waste and disposed of, it said.
The Government has also proposed reusing plutonium stored in the UK by overseas owners, subject to acceptable commercial terms. However more information on safety and value for money would be needed before the Government could move forward with plans for a new MOX plant, it said.
"While converting the plutonium into MOX is the most credible and technologically mature option, the Government remains open to any alternative proposals for plutonium management that offer better value to the taxpayer, and will seek to gather more data on all options," Hendry said in his statement.
