Clause
86
Security
of sensitive nuclear
information
Question
proposed, That the clause stand part of the
Bill.
Malcolm
Wicks:
This important clause provides for more appropriate
penalties where an individual steals, or attempts to steal, sensitive
nuclear information from sites holding uranium enrichment information,
but which are not licensed nuclear
sites.
The
Nuclear Installations Act 1965 allows for sites where the reprocessing
or enrichment of uranium takes place to be designated as prohibited
places, for the purposes of the Official Secrets Act 1911. Two sites
were previously designated prohibited places, and remain so. They are
the Sellafield and Urenco Capenhurst sites. The Energy Act 2004
resulted in a major restructuring of the nuclear industry. It meant
that sensitive nuclear information pertaining to uranium enrichment
could be taken and stored away from the two sites designated prohibited
places under the Nuclear Installations Act. There are already clear
requirements for holders of sensitive nuclear information, in terms of
what they must do to protect it. The Committee will want to be assured
that the security regulator, the Office for Civil Nuclear Security, is
content that those requirements are both sufficient and up to date. As
such, the Bill proposes no changes to those
requirements.
It being One
o’clock, The Chairman
adjourned
the Committee without Question put, pursuant to the Standing
Order.
Adjourned
till this day at Four
o'clock.
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