Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held in relation to safety issues regarding civil vessels operating in close vicinity to (1) the Hunterston nuclear power station, and (2) nuclear power stations in general.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
No discussions have been held specifically in relation to safety issues posed by civil vessels operating in close vicinity to any nuclear site.
Nuclear sites must comply with the UK’s stringent nuclear safety regulations, overseen by a robust and independent regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).
The primary responsibility for nuclear safety, and the assessment of potential risks to a nuclear licensed site from all hazards, rests with the licence holder – in this case Magnox for Hunterston A and EDF Energy for Hunterston B. Under the licence conditions, licensees are required to consider the effect of a wide range of potentially hazardous events (man-made and environmental) and demonstrate that any associated risks to the nuclear facility are manageable and will not result in catastrophic consequences within the nuclear facility’s risk assessment (known as the ‘safety case’).
The ONR would not permit any site to operate if it judged that its safety case was not sufficiently robust and demonstrated that it could operate and shutdown safely under hazardous conditions.
Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the Office for Nuclear Regulation regarding the transportation of spent fuel rods recently discovered at the Hunterston nuclear power plant to the Sellafield nuclear power plant; and whether the spent fuel rods will now be transported to the Sellafield nuclear power plant.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The discovery of spent fuel at Hunterston A forms part of the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) approved safety case and operating procedure for the retrieval activities associated with waste at the site. The discovered spent fuel remains in a safe and controlled environment at Hunterston A until a decision has been made, in conjunction with the ONR, about how they should be processed, packaged and stored prior to final disposal.
Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with EDF regarding safety issues at (1) Hunterston B, and (2) Hunterston A, nuclear power stations since 2015.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
All generating nuclear power stations and nuclear decommissioning sites must comply with our stringent nuclear safety laws, overseen by a robust and independent regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).
Hunterston B is a generating nuclear power station that is operated by EDF. BEIS officials meet regularly with EDF to discuss a range of matters relating to the generating fleet of power stations including relevant safety issues, performance of all stations including Hunterston B.
Hunterston A power station is being decommissioned. Magnox Limited, a subsidiary of Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the site. BEIS officials meet regularly with NDA and Magnox Ltd staff to understand relevant safety issues, progress and performance at all Magnox sites including Hunterston A.
Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the Scottish Government relating to radioactive waste held at the site of the Hunterston nuclear power station; and, in any such discussions, how they addressed existing radioactive waste policy.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Officials regularly engage with officials in the Scottish Government to discuss issues relating to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and to discuss the management of radioactive waste. BEIS officials also regularly engage with EDF and with Magnox Limited, who are respectively responsible for the Hunterston B and Hunterston A sites to discuss a range of matters, including any relevant issues relating to the management of radioactive waste. Policy on the management of radioactive waste is a devolved matter. While there are regular discussions between the Scottish Government and BEIS officials on radioactive waste management policy matters generally, there have been no recent specific discussions between the UK Government and the Scottish Government relating to radioactive waste held at the Hunterston site (A and B nuclear power stations).
Asked by: Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, and with whom, about the economic impact of the permanent closure of Hunterston B nuclear power station; and what steps they intend to take to ensure an economic investment package is put in place in view of job losses and the wider economic impact of that closure.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
EDF Energy recently announced that Hunterston B would close no later than January 2022. EDF Energy, as owner and operator of the power station, is responsible for the management of the closure, in consultation with the nuclear regulator, including any related employment matters arising from closure and during the subsequent station decommissioning.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is working with EDF Energy and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to consider how efficient and cost-effective decommissioning of EDF Energy-owned nuclear power stations can be planned for and delivered in the future. This work does not affect the closure of the stations.