ROSTRIC.)
Department of Energy
ATOMIC ENERGY DIVISION Themes House South
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Telegrams Energy London SW1
Mrs C Bell
DOI
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1. ROR
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Mr. Uden
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September 1982
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I am sure it is right to try reasure HK public opinion about the rafety aspects. But would take PRC be
GUANGDONG: HONG KONG GOVT. INTEREST IN SAFETY happy about the precedents in ps
6? Lerhaps FED can advise.
1. We spoke about Alan Havelock's letter of 17 September to Geoffrey Stevens about Ollie Plait's suggestion that the time had come to make a nuclear safety presentation to Hong Kong.
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In principle we think the idea of a presentation remains a good one. This would sensibly be made by Ron Gatsden, who, as a former Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations has the necessary expertise and authority to make him a credible impartial advisor in Hong Kong eyes. At the same time, we must try to avoid any direct comparison betweeen proposed Guangdong safety standards and those applied in the UK. The approach should be whether the Guangdong arrangements will be adequate, not how they compare with those applied elsewhere. With this in mind, we agreed that it would be wise to review the existing document to ensure that it contains no hostages.
The key question is one of timing. The original Hong Kong interest in nuclear safety seems to have subsided somewhat. But the interest is naturally still there and it would seem best for the offer of a presentation to arise naturally from whatever is said to Alan Havelock while he is in Hong Kong.
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The question of monitoring PRC safety organisations is a very difficult one. We do not know what safety organisation the Chinese intend establishing or whether they will want UK advice or assistance in creating appropriate arrangements. It does however seem unlikely that attempts by Hong Kong to "monitor" the system will be welcomed by the PRC. I wonder anyway which would be the best way to meet Hong Kong concerns.
The Hong Kong interest is in being satisfied that, first, the proposed power station is designed and built to adequate safety standards, second that it is operated safely and third, that arrangements exist to respond promptly to a nuclear emergency. The latter might include arrangements for warning the Hong Kong authorities in the remote event of a radiation
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