Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 October 2005
105 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on plans to privatise a number of nuclear installations in the United Kingdom; his further views on whether, as bad as safety at nuclear installations in the United Kingdom is under a state company, they will only worsen if privatised; his views on the privatisation plans of his United Kingdom counterpart; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30293/05]
Amharc ar fhreagraI assume that the question refers to recent reports of plans by the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to introduce competition into the decommissioning process by using contractors and encouraging competition to carry out decommissioning contracts. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is a public body established by the UK Government. The objective of the authority is to deliver safe, cost effective and environmentally responsible decommissioning of the UK's civil nuclear legacy.
While in principle the use of contractors should not cause safety standards to be compromised, I understand that contractors were previously used at the Dounreay research reactor site. This experience was unsatisfactory since proper scrutiny and safety co-ordination was not in place and safety standards suffered. I understand that such concerns are being addressed in discussions between the UK regulators and the authority.
Regardless of whether contractors are used for a particular operation, the ultimate responsibility for safety still lies with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and it is imperative that safety standards should be maintained and not compromised to achieve false economies. My Department and I will remain fully engaged as stakeholders in regard to the operations of the authority and we will continue to articulate our concerns that only the highest safety, security and environmental standards are employed by the authority in its operations or by contractors acting on its behalf.
