SAFETY ISSUES AND THE ROLE
OF NII, NNC AND CEGB
The Governor of Hong Kong would need to be assured that the station will be constructed and operated in accordance with UK safety standards. KEC appears ready to pay close attention to these and has suggested informally that the UK should help China establish a safety authority. The NII would be the most appropriate authority to do this and to offer advice to the Governor but its
nees are fully committed to the UK nuclear programme. Consideration must therefore be given to the means by which the UK can meet these needs.
The NNC could also offer valuable expertise to either customer or contractor. Involvement of NNC may be seen by the Chinese as a desirable expression of HMG support. The extent of the NNC role will however be constrained by commitments to the UK nuclear programme and the choice of nuclear reactor partner.
CEGB staff will be needed during the initial operation of the station to make good the lack of CLP and KEC expertise. Possible calls on CEGB resources will also need to be clarified.
CONCLUSION
The immediate steps are:
To use the visit of the Guangdong official to probe Chinese thinking further, in order to establish direct contact with the Guangdong authorities.
To use the visit of the Foreign Secretary to try to ascertain the Peking Government's attitude.
In addition:-
Officials should follow up the Foreign Secretary's visit with early discussions to explore issues in detail;
Meanwhile action should proceed to clarify the industrial/ management structure best suited to progress UK interests;
a report should be prepared for Ministers to take substantive decisions consistent with the timescale of the project.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.