Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to replicate the funding allocated to North Wales for the thermal hydraulics research facility in Bangor with spending on the nuclear industry in Cumbria; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The proposed Thermal Hydraulics facility in Bangor is part of the BEIS led Nuclear Innovation Programme and is in its very early stages of development. The £180m Nuclear Innovation Programme is part of the 2016-21, £505m BEIS Energy Innovation Programme. The Programme covers the whole of the UK Nuclear Research and Development community in order to develop and promote innovation and future growth in the nuclear sector in the UK in conjunction with the Nuclear Sector Deal.
The National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) is successfully delivering and playing a leadership role on three streams of the Nuclear Innovation Programme; Advanced Fuels, Recycle and Waste Management and Strategic Toolkit. All areas utilise key nuclear skills and research infrastructure in the North West including Cumbria.
The NNL also invests in science and engineering programmes and skills using earnings to reinvest which are implemented within North West universities, supply chain and NNL facilities of which a large component is in Cumbria.
The Government welcomes the initiative of nuclear businesses, supply chain clusters, universities and innovators across Cumbria, the wider North West, and North Wales to work together through the North West Nuclear Arc.
We believe our policies through the Nuclear Sector Deal and Nuclear Innovation Programme will support the North West Nuclear Arc to capitalise on the regions historic strengths in the nuclear sector.
It was this Government that agreed a landmark Nuclear Sector Deal worth over £200m, as well as giving the go-ahead to Hinkley Point C, the first new nuclear power station in a generation.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the viability of Cumbria as a site for the development of future modular reactors in the UK.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Government is actively considering siting policy for small reactors. We recognise that there is growing local and regional interest for the development of many sites with SMRs or AMRs, including sites in Cumbria. Our work is exploring the arguments made to us that new, smaller power plants should use existing or reuse former nuclear licensed sites to take advantage of past investment in infrastructure and grid connections at those sites, and the skilled workforces around them. There are also arguments for exploring new sites. This work on siting is ongoing and we intend to provide an update during the course of the year.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of (a) Moorside and (b) Sellafield as possible locations for Small Modular Reactors and Advanced Modular Reactors.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Government is actively considering siting policy for small reactors. We recognise that there is growing local and regional interest for the development of many sites with SMRs or AMRs, including sites in Cumbria. Our work is exploring the arguments made to us that new, smaller power plants should use existing or reuse former nuclear licensed sites to take advantage of past investment in infrastructure and grid connections at those sites, and the skilled workforces around them. There are also arguments for exploring new sites. This work on siting is ongoing and we intend to provide an update during the course of the year.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to develop modular reactors in Cumbria.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
Our landmark Nuclear Sector Deal outlined a new framework designed to enable the development of small and advanced modular reactors in the UK. Our aim is to encourage the industry to bring forward technically and commercially viable small reactor projects to a vibrant UK marketplace. We believe the market is best-placed to identify the most promising designs. As an important centre of the nuclear industry, Cumbria should be well placed to actively participate in the development of modular reactors.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding his Department has allocated to the Moorside Nuclear Power station project in Cumbria since February 2017.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Moorside project was led by a private developer and the Government did not allocate any direct public funding to the project. We have, however, committed £200m to the Nuclear Sector Deal which was agreed with industry to drive competitiveness across the nuclear sector. Through the deal the sector has committed to deliver by 2030: 30 per cent cost reduction in the cost of new build projects, savings of 20 per cent in the cost of decommissioning compared with current estimates, 40 per cent women in nuclear, and up to £2bn domestic and international contract wins.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has plans to allocate funding to identify a new operator for the Moorside Nuclear Power Station project.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
New nuclear projects in the UK are developer led; it is therefore for developers to come forward with plans for new power stations. The Moorside site will return to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in due course and we will consider options for its future. We welcome discussions with potential investors and operators at the Moorside site.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much money his Department has spent on the Moorside Nuclear Power Station project in Cumbria since February 2017.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
New nuclear projects in the UK, including Moorside, are developer led. As a private developer led project, the government has not spent any public money other than staff and adviser costs associated with working with the range of stakeholders involved in taking that project forward.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has plans for a takeover of the Moorside Nuclear Power station project in Cumbria as a result of the announcement made by Toshiba on 8 November 2018 that the company was withdrawing from that project.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Moorside site will return to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in due course and we will consider options for its future.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many UK post office closures there have been in each year since 1997.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.
While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to you on this matter.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to establish a State System of Accounting and Control for Nuclear Material and then negotiate a formal agreement with Euratom after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
As the White Paper on the UK’s Future Relationship with the EU makes clear, the UK is seeking a close association with Euratom through a broad and comprehensive Nuclear Cooperation Agreement between the UK and Euratom. The Government has also been clear that, irrespective of the outcome of negotiations, it will take legal responsibility for the application of nuclear safeguards in the UK once Euratom arrangements no longer apply. The new regime will be implemented by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).
Parliament has passed the Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018 which provides the legal framework for setting up a domestic nuclear safeguards regime. Using these new powers, the Government intends to make the Nuclear Safeguards Regulations this year, which set out the proposed detail of the regime, following a public consultation which ran from July to September.
The ONR will implement a UK State System for Accounting for and Control of Nuclear Material (SSAC) as part of the new domestic regime. The ONR is working to ensure it will have in place by 29 March 2019 the IT systems and safeguards inspectors needed to operate the UK SSAC, meet international standards and to build, over time, to equivalent effectiveness and coverage to Euratom.