AUG 16 '86 11:35 TIBCOOU) HK GOVT
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Although the Government of Hong Kong received the Harwell Report 'Accident Assessment Phase I in January this year, it has refused to make it known to the public on the pretext that the report is but a preliminary one. However, the Director of Electrical & Mechanical Services G.J. Osborne at once responded and said the risk that the report assessed was even greater than what he had expected. According to the Harwell Report, the risk of having a serious accident is 1/166.
On
The Harwell Report is written in highly technical terms. The papers which Ming Pao has managed to obtain indicate that top-level officials of the Hong Kong Government consider no layman could understand what the report is talking about. It is questionable if the Government could use the report to give any explanations to members of the general public. Besides, the report does not provide adequate information, and the top-level government officials think many questions still remain unanswered. 27.3.86 and 1.4.86 the Hong Kong Government raised nine questions with the British atomic energy bureau and requested that explanatione be given in layman terms, Yet, Dr. B. Wada of the atomic energy bureau said in his reply of 7.5.86 to the Secretary for Economic Services that there was no intention to rewrite the Phase I report which was written for the technical staff and that they could only discuss the question of the way of expression after Phase II had been completed.
As disclosed by the confidential capers which Ming Pao has obtained, officials of the Hong Kong Government have grave doubt about the safety of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant and have requested the British atomic energy bureau to make further researches. From Dr. B. Wade's reply of 7.5.86, it is shown that: (1) the research group concerned does not know anything about the design of the reactor of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant, so it could only make a rough estimate on the frequency of accidents and the consequences of an accident. Phase I report estimated the frequency of accidents, it did not take into account the external factors like the frequency of earthquakes and aeroplane accidents. If these factors are taken into consideration, a
(2) When
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