Tag: Paul Flynn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-24.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many assessments of (a) nuclear facilities and (b) other critical infrastructure have been undertaken against his Department’s information assurance maturity model; and if he will publish all such assessments undertaken since May 2010.

Mr Francis Maude

There is on-going work assessing and mitigating vulnerabilities in UK’s critical national infrastructure. Details of this work, including any assessments, are classified.

Progress against the National Cyber Security Strategy is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/uk-cyber-security-strategy-statement-on-progress-2-years-on

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish evidence held by his Department supporting the conclusion that passengers on Great Western services do not wish to have buffet cars on the new Intercity Express Programme trains.

Claire Perry

The catering provision in the Great Western Inter City Express fleet reflects the preferences of the operator who are closest to their passengers’ priorities. It is a matter for First Great Western whether they wish to release the information supporting the decision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2013-14, published on 23 June 2014, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy on the evaluation of proposals for funded radioactive waste and decommissioning plans presented to him by private nuclear operators of the recent increase in the cost of dealing with legacy radioactive waste and decommissioning announced in that report.

Michael Fallon

Recent changes in the estimated costs of dealing with legacy radioactive waste and decommissioning announced in the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2013/14 are due in their entirety to the decommissioning programme at Sellafield. These costs should not be used as a guide to costs of decommissioning modern nuclear reactor sites. The vast majority of the liability at Sellafield is a result of the Cold War military programme on that site, dating back to the 1940s, and the very early days of the civil nuclear industry, dating back to the 1950s and 1960s. These historic facilities were built extremely rapidly to very different quality and safety standards compared with nuclear plants constructed today and without plans for how they would be ultimately decommissioned, These facilities present a unique decommissioning challenge requiring a complex suite of engineering projects in order to first gain access to their waste inventory before retrieving and then treating this material ready for long-term disposal. The activity required to decommission these facilities at Sellafield bears no relation to the work required to decommission modern nuclear facilities. Operators of nuclear power stations being constructed under the Government’s new build programme are required to publish plans detailing how these facilities will be decommissioned and the operators themselves are liable for the costs associated with this decommissioning work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to sign off the Great Western direct award.

Claire Perry

We currently expect to conclude negotiations with First Great Western, and finalise the second Directly Awarded franchise contract during March 2015, for the provision of services from September 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the evidential basis was for the statement made by his Department’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in her foreword to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2013-14, issued on 23 June 2014, that the continuation of Nuclear Management Partner’s contract to manage the Sellafield site offers the potential of stability and focus on the priorities during a vital five-year period in the history of Sellafield as it transitions from an operational plant into a fully-fledged decommissioning site.

Michael Fallon

The decision on contract extension was for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in line with its duties and responsibilities under the Energy Act 2004. The Department has oversight of all NDA activity and, given the particular importance of Sellafield, officials were closely involved throughout the contract review. From this we were assured that the NDA reached its decision based on a thorough and independent review of performance in the first period of the contract and consideration of all the options available to it. Ministers endorsed the NDA Board’s decision to extend the contract for a second term on the basis that rolling the contract forward represented the best way forward, giving the opportunity for NMP to build on progress made to date, address weaker areas of performance and make further real progress in this next five year term.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what total amount his Department has spent on consultant fees for the Great Western direct award to date.

Claire Perry

The total amount the Department has spent on consultancy fees for the Great Western Direct Award (DA) from November 2012 to date (January 2015) is approximately £1.6m. This amount is inclusive of VAT.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2013-14, published on 23 June 2014, what estimate he has made of the additional cost to the public purse arising from the increased cost on an undiscounted basis of legacy radioactive waste and nuclear plant commissioning announced in that report.

Michael Fallon

As reported in the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2013/14, the Nuclear Provision (the estimated cost to complete the decommissioning of all 17 sites in the authority’s estate) is now calculated as £65bn on a discounted basis (£110bn undiscounted). These costs will be borne in their entirety by the public purse.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what total amount his Department has spent on consultant fees relating to the Intercity Express Programme to date.

Claire Perry

From 2005 to October 2009, £21m was spent. Since then further spend has been incurred taking the total as at February 2015 to £46m.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-04-30.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral Answer of 30 April 2014, Official Report, column 824, what the evidential basis is for the statement that nuclear power is carbon-free.

Mr David Cameron

There is a strong consensus in the global scientific community that nuclear energy represents one of the lowest carbon forms of baseload electricity generation.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that the life cycle emissions associated with the generation of electricity from nuclear power groups are 16g CO₂ per kWh electricity produced. This is very low compared to the equivalent figure for electricity produced by natural gas turbines, which is in excess of 400g CO₂/kWh, and similar to the IPCC’s estimate for widespread non-baseload form of electricity generation, such as wind.

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology report ‘Carbon Footprint of Electricity Generation’ states that the operation of the nuclear power station accounts for less than 1% of the total life cycle emissions of nuclear electricity generation.