| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
4.3 pm
The Minister for Industry and Energy (Mr. Tim Eggar): I beg to move, to leave out from "House" to the end of the Question and to add instead thereof:
- 'congratulates the Nuclear Electric and Scottish Nuclear companies which, with the advent of competition in the electricity market and the prospect of privatisation, have transformed their performance
- over the past six years; congratulates the Government on the planned sale of the nuclear power stations of Nuclear Electric and Scottish Nuclear, noting that it is consistent with existing legislation, will fully preserve the vigour of the safety and environmental regulatory system, will benefit the taxpayer through the transfer of liabilities to the private sector and the receipt of sale proceeds and will provide appropriate transparency about liabilities and how they will be met; notes that the Government intend to give a considered response to the Trade and Industry Committee within the normal timescale; and notes that the Opposition have opposed every privatisation, despite the proven benefits which have been recognised by a growing number of countries throughout the world.'.
I begin by paying tribute in the House to the late John Collier, who was the chairman of Nuclear Electric. It is due to a great extent to John's skill, leadership and hard work that the nuclear power industry is now preparing for privatisation. He is remembered with great respect and affection by everybody who knew him, in all parts of the House.
Let me now turn to the speech that we have just heard from the right hon. Member for Derby, South (Mrs. Beckett)--a speech of doom, gloom and scaremongering, even by her standards. For once I can say something positive about the hon. Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Battle), who until recently has refrained from trying to score cheap party political points about safety. I am sorry that he failed to persuade his right hon. Friend to follow the same route. [Interruption.] I am sure that the right hon. Lady does not realise how responsibly her hon. Friend has behaved with regard to safety. I am only sorry that she did not follow his good example.
Mr. Eggar:
Of course I will give way to the right hon. Lady, if she wishes to contradict her hon. Friend.
Mrs. Beckett:
I do not wish to contradict my hon. Friend; it is the Minister on whose remarks I want to comment. He said that it would be irresponsible to draw attention to some of the safety consequences of the problems that are being seen in the nuclear industry.I cannot believe that he does not know what I know: that the industry is seriously alarmed about some of the prospects and some of the consequences of the current investigation of developments in the industry.
The Minister has come to the House before--while the report on Heysham was on his desk--and said that it would be wrong for anyone to raise safety issues and anxieties about the future operation of the industry. All the issues are difficult; all are now being assessed. It would be grossly irresponsible for any hon. Member, even a Conservative Member, not to raise some of them in a debate of this nature.
Mr. Eggar:
I suggest that what is entirely inappropriate is for such issues to be raised in the way in which the right hon. Lady raised them. Her speech was no more than pure scaremongering from beginning to end.
Mr. Eggar:
There we are. The right hon. Lady, from a sedentary position, says, "We shall see." What is that except scaremongering?
The fact is that the nuclear installations inspectorate is an independent body, which is overseen by the Health and Safety Commission. The right hon. Lady seems to forget that the commission includes three representatives from the trade unions. To suggest for a moment that its members would be prepared to go along with a lowering of safety standards is offensive to them; moreover, it entirely fails to recognise the high and independent standards set by both the commission and the NII.
If the right hon. Lady had bothered to read the NII's evidence to the Trade and Industry Select Committee, from whose report she quoted extensively, she would know that the NII said that, if shareholder pressure resulted in stronger, more focused management, it would expect to see a safety benefit from privatisation. The Health and Safety Executive has confirmed that relicensing the affected nuclear power stations will ensure that there is no reduction in nuclear safety as a result of restructuring and privatisation. After an exhaustive inquiry, the Trade and Industry Select Committee concluded:
Let me repeat the Government's policy once more. Safety is and will remain paramount for both the Government and the industry, and the same rigorous regulatory regime will continue to apply to both public and private-sector operators.
Mr. Michael Clapham (Barnsley, West and Penistone):
The Minister mentioned the Health and Safety Executive. He will be aware that a letter leaked last week showed that the cut in the HSE's budget was compromising safety, because in future it would not have enough inspectors to ensure compliance. That will clearly apply to the nuclear industry.
Mr. Eggar:
The hon. Gentleman is deducing the position from a draft letter which has never been sent. In any case, I refer him to the White Paper, and to the evidence that I gave to the Select Committee on Trade and Industry, of which he is a member. I made it absolutely clear that the Government will ensure that there are adequate resources for the NII to make certain that it can carry out its responsibilities. I repeat, as I have done many times on the Floor of the House, that the safety of the nuclear industry is paramount, whether it is in the public or the private sector, and nothing will deter us from ensuring that.
Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow):
Is the probability that the expected life of the Magnox stations will be extended beyond previous expectations? Are we quite sure--the answer may be yes--that the NII has sufficient resources to cover the extended life of the Magnox stations?
Mr. Eggar:
If additional resources are necessary to take account of that eventuality if it were to happen, they would have to be made available. The Government said clearly in the White Paper that we will not in any way imperil safety standards, and we will stick with that.
Mr. Alan W. Williams (Carmarthen):
Will the Minister give way?
Mr. Eggar:
I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, but I am only at the beginning of my speech, and I have been absolutely categorical on this issue, in front of the Select Committee and on the Floor of the House, time and again.
Mr. Williams:
The Minister mentioned safety. On29 January, in Heysham, there was a problem with a fuel rod, which got stuck when it was being lowered. That caused an emergency shutdown that lasted 18 days. That has potentially serious commercial implications for the future of the HER programme. Why did not the Government go public immediately on that emergency shutdown? The first we heard of it was six or seven weeks later.
Mr. Adam Ingram (East Kilbride):
From memory?
Mr. Eggar:
Yes, because I do not want to mislead the House in any way.
The automatic shutdown mechanism, which is installed for safety purposes, immediately closed down the station. The station manager decided, entirely on his own discretion, that he would stop on-load refuelling. Following normal practice, that incident was disclosed in the site newspaper, which is widely distributed, at the beginning of February--again, I say that from memory. An entirely misleading and over-emotional article appeared on the front page of The Guardian--
That article referred to meltdown and such possibilities, which was entirely bogus, as anybody who knows the nuclear industry is aware. Nuclear Electric then decided that it would raise the issues with Scottish Nuclear, which decided, for safety reasons--because of the similar design at Torness--not to continue, for the moment, with the on-load refuelling.
The company is now examining those issues and has behaved entirely responsibly. By its actions, it has shown that it will not take any risks with safety of any kind whatever. So, far from raising safety fears, the performance of Nuclear Electric has reinforced the importance that it attaches to the highest possible safety standards in the nuclear industry.
Mr. Tom King (Bridgwater):
Are not the comments by Opposition Members--which question the standard of safety observance in the industry--an insult to the people working in the industry? I speak on behalf of my constituents at Hinckley Point, whose families and children live near the stations, and I draw attention to the outstanding safety achievement of those two stations.
"privatisation need not result in any reduction in nuclear safety".
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |