House of Commons Hansard Debates for 25 Apr 1991

Office of Energy Regulation

Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the cost to date of the Office of Electricity Regulation and each regional consultative committee, broken down annually.

Mr. Wakeham : Although this is a matter for the Office of Electricity Regulation, the hon. Member should first look at the paper entitled "Government's Plans Within the Energy Sector 1991-92 to 1993-94", which was presented to the House in February.

Nuclear Industry

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if, following the recent support expressed for small nuclear power plants by Crown Prince Tupouto' A of Tonga, he will make it his policy to contact the Government of Tonga to assess what export opportunities exist for the United Kingdom nuclear industry to the South Pacific nation.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : It is Government policy to support British companies in pursuing suitable export opportunities. The staff of the high commission in Tonga keep a close watch on opportunities for United Kingdom businesses. Where appropriate, they will notify exporters of such opportunities. The high commission has noted the Prince's remarks on nuclear power, which were carried in a local magazine, and we await further developments with interest.

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list in the Official Report all nuclear incidents in civil nuclear facilities reported to him by (a) the nuclear installations inspectorate and (b) the nuclear operators over the past five years ; and what has been the average time lapse between the occurence of a reportable incident and its reportage to his Department over the same period.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by my predecessor, the hon. Memer for Eddisbury (Mr. Goodlad) to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood (Mr. Stewart), concerning the revised criteria for the reporting of nuclear incidents at civil nuclear installations, in which he stated :

"All such reports are published quarterly by the Health and Safety Executive",

and that for all occurrences including more minor occurrences which are not formally reportable under the criteria

"nuclear operators will publish details in weekly or fortnightly site newsletters".--[ Official Report, 30 April 1987 ; Vol. 115, c. 203- 4.]

Copies of these reports and individual site newsletters have since this time been made available to the Library of the House. Following this statement, operators were instructed that all incidents covered by the formal reporting criteria should be reported as soon as practicable, but anyway within 24 hours to this and other interested Departments and the relevant regulatory bodies. I am not aware of any incident which was defined as reportable where the operator has failed to meet this requirement.

International Energy Agencies

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will set out (i) the criteria adopted in the choice of United Kingdom representatives and (ii) the names of all

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such representatives appointed over the past 10 years to (a) the International Energy Agency in Paris and (b) the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The United Kingdom is usually represented at the governing board of the International Energy Agency (IEA) by the head of the Department of Energy's international unit and at the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by the head of the Department's atomic energy division.

The UK is represented in the full range of IEA and IAEA committees and working groups by those with expertise in the relevant areas, including those from UK permanent missions to these organisations. To identify all officials involved over the past 10 years would involve disporportionate cost.

The Department's Permanent Under-Secretary is currently chairman of the governing board of the IEA at official level, having been elected to that post by member countries' governing board representatives.

Symposium on Electricity and the Environment

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what representation the United Kingdom will have at the Helsinki symposium on electricity and the environment to be held in Finland on 13 to 17 May ; what criteria were adopted to make the choice of

representatives ; and with whom his Department plans to liaise on distributing details of its outcome.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The symposium will cover technical, economic, environmental and regulatory aspects of electricity supply. The Department of Energy will be represented by two officials, at grade 5 level, from the energy technology and economics and statistics divisions ; a deputy chief inspector from Her Majesty's pollution inspectorate will also attend. The responsibility for distributing details of the outcome of the symposium will lie with the sponsors.

Chernobyl

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what steps have been taken since the Chernobyl nuclear accident to review and improve the civil emergency plans and regulations, as they concern civil radiation emergencies.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : Following the Chernobyl nuclear accident, the lessons of the accident for the United Kingdom were carefully considered by a Government working group. As part of this review the Department of Energy carried out extensive consultations with emergency services and authorities which would be involved in dealing with a nuclear accident in the United Kingdom. These consultations showed that in addition to the emergency plans which nuclear operators are required to maintain, other contingency plans were available which, as the then Prime Minister stated ;

"would permit an effective response to be made to any nuclear accident, including those with more widespread effects than the specific site and off -site plans are designed to cater for."--[ Official Report, 12 December 1988 ; Vol. 144, c.391.]

In addition, following that review, my Department set up a nuclear emergency planning liaison group which meets twice each year with the aim of agreeing improvements in emergency planning arrangements and procedures among interested organisations at national and

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local level. There have also been improvements in the information available about emergency arrangements with the publication in May 1990 of the Health and Safety Executive's booklet "Arrangements for Responding to Nuclear Emergencies" and the preparation by nuclear operators and local authorities of booklets describing emergency plans and telling the public in the area of nuclear sites what action they should take if a nuclear emergency is declared. In addition, arrangements for the regular exercising of emergency plans have been improved.

More recently the report of Michael Barnes QC into the application for planning consent for the construction of a PWR at Hinkley Point contained a number of recommendations designed to strengthen emergency arrangements around the Hinkley Point site and at national level. These recommendations were endorsed by my right hon. Friend in his decision letter and are being taken forward by my Department, the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate and other bodies concerned.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Trade Statistics

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment has been made of the effect the increase in the United Kingdom's trade-weighted relative unit values since the second half of 1983 has had on the balance of trade in manufacturing.

Mr. Sainsbury : None.

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will publish a table showing for each year since 1961 the percentage increase in the volume of output and the volume of imports of consumer goods other than food and fuel together with the International Monetary Fund or other index of competitiveness.

Mr. Mellor : I have been asked to reply.

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Information from which percentage changes in import volumes and import price competitiveness may be derived can be found in tables C14 and F3 of the monthly review of external trade statistics and its annual supplement, available from the Library of the House, or on the Central Statistical Office database which may be accessed through the Library. The information is not available for years prior to 1971. Information about percentage changes in the volume of output of consumer goods as defined could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Businesses (London)

Ms. Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses (a) opened up and (b) went into receivership in each of the last five years in (i) the London borough of Southwark, (ii) south London and (iii) Greater London.

Mr. Redwood : Information is not readily available in the form requested. The following table gives estimates of the number of companies whose registered offices are in the areas shown.