Hansard on International Regulations affecting safety at AWE Burghfield

 

25 Mar 2009 : Column 432W

AWE Burghfield: Nuclear Weapons

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2009, Official Report, column 1668W, on AWE Burghfield: nuclear weapons, what internationally recognised standards and codes of practice are applicable. [265568]

*Mr. Quentin Davies:* A wide range of internationally recognised standards and codes of practice are pertinent to the proposed main process facility for the assembly and disassembly of nuclear warheads at AWE Burghfield. Those that are most relevant to the resilience to nuclear accidents are in the following table.
/Document Reference Number/     /Reference/
JSP 482
    
MoD Explosives Regulations
T/AST/ 003
    
Nil Technical Assessment Guide – Safety Systems
T/AST/ 005
    
Nil Technical Assessment Guide – Demonstration of ALARP
T/AST/ 007
    
Nil Technical Assessment Guide – Severe Accident Analysis
T/AST/ 008
    
Nil Technical Assessment Guide – Safety Categorisation and Equipment Qualification
T/AST/ 017
    
Nil Technical Assessment Guide – Structural Integrity, Civil Engineering Aspects
T/AST/018
    
Nil Technical Assessment Guide – Criticality Incident Detection Systems
T/AST/006
    
Deterministic Safety Analysis and use of Engineering Principles in Safety Assessment
TM5-1300
    
Structures to resist the effects of Accidental Explosions. US Departments of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force November 1990
UFC UFC 3-340-01
    
Protective Structures Automated Design System (PSADS) Design and Analysis of Hardened Structures To Conventional Weapons Effects U.S. Army Corps of Engineers June 2002
No reference number
    
Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005
No reference number
    
Baker, W et al Explosion Hazards and Evaluation 1983
No reference number
    
Kingery, C.N. Bulmarsh, G Airblast Parameters from Spherical Air Burst and Hemispherical Surface Burst US Army Armament Research and Development Centre 1984
No reference number
    
Hyde, D Con Wep – Conventional Weapons Effects. Department of the Army, Waterways Experimental Station, US Army Corps of Engineers 1986

Typical standards relating to facility integrity are in the following table.

*25 Mar 2009 : Column 434W*
/Document Reference Number/     /Reference/
ACI349-06
    
Code Requirements For Nuclear Safety Related Concrete Structures
ANSI/AISC341sl-05
    
Seismic Provisions for Structural Steel Buildings
ANSI/AISC 358-05
    
Prequalified Connections for Special and Intermediate Moment Frames in Seismic Applications
ANSI/AISC 360 05
    
Specification for Structural Steel Buildings
ASCE 43-05
    
Seismic Design Criteria for Structures, Systems and Components in Nuclear Facilities
ASCE 4-98
    
Seismic analysis of safety related nuclear structures
ATC40
    
Applied Technology Council Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Concrete Buildings
AWSD1.8/D1.8M:2005
    
Structural Welding Code – Seismic Supplement
BS 2573; Part 1
    
Rules for the Design of cranes – Specification for classification, stress calculations and design criteria for structures; 1983..
BS 2573; Part 2
    
Rules for the Design of cranes – Specification for classification, stress calculations and design of mechanisms; 1983.
BS 2573-1
    
Rules for the Design of Cranes – Part 1: Specification for Classification, Stress Calculations and Design Criteria for Structures
BS 2573-2
    
Rules for the Design of Cranes – Part 2: Specification for Classification, Stress Calculations and Design of Mechanisms
BS 4094
    
Data on Shielding from Ionising Radiation
BS 4449:2005
    
Steel for the reinforcement of concrete – Weldable reinforcing steel – Bar, coiled and decoiled product.
BS 5628
    
Code of Practice for use of masonry
BS 5760
    
Reliability of systems, equipment and components
BS 5950-1:2000
    
Structural use of steelwork in buildings. Code of Practice for design – Rolled and welded sections.
BS 6385
    
Ergonomic principles in the design of work systems
BS 6399
    
Loading for buildings
BS 8110-1:1997
    
Structural Use of Concrete. Part 1 Code of Practice for design and construction.
BS EN 13001-1
    
Crane Safety -General Design
BS EN 13001-2
    
Crane Safety-General Design
BS EN 13463-1
    
Non-electrical equipment for potentially explosive atmospheres
BS EN 292-1
    
Safety of Machinery- Basic concepts, general principals for design
BS EN 349
    
Safety of machinery: Minimum gaps to avoid crushing parts of the human body
BS EN 614
    
Safety of machinery: Ergonomic design principles
BS EN 62305
    
Lightning Regulations
BS EN ISO 11604
    
Ergonomic Design of Control Centres
BS EN 1011-2: 2001
    
Welding Recommendations for welding of metallic materials Arc welding of ferritic steels
BS EN 287-1: 2004
    
Qualification test of welders Fusion welding. Steels

*25 Mar 2009 : Column 435W*
BS EN 875: 1995
    
Destructive tests on welds in metallic materials. Impact tests Test specimen location, notch orientation and examination
BS EN ISO 15609-1
    
Specification and qualification of welding procedures for metallic materials. Welding procedure specification Arc welding
BS EN ISO 15614-1
    
Specification and qualification of welding procedures for metallic materials – Welding procedure test – Part 1 Arc and gas welding of steels and arc welding of nickel and nickel alloys
Def Stan 00-25
    
Human factors for designers of equipment
Def Stan 00-40
    
Reliability and Maintainability (R and M)
Def Stan 00-41
    
Reliability and Maintainability MOD Guide to Practices and Procedures
DEF STAN 08-5
    
Structural requirements for weapon support equipment; Issue 1 Chapter 5
FEMA 440
    
Improvement of non-linear static seismic analysis procedures (2005)
HSEACOPL138
    
Health and Safety Executive – Approved Code of Practice and Guidance – Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres
IAEA Tecdoc 1333
    
Earthquake experience and seismic qualification by indirect methods in nuclear installations
IAEA-TECDOC-1347
    
IAEA Report: Consideration of external events in the design of nuclear facilities other than nuclear power plants, with emphasis on earthquakes, dated March 2003
IEEE 344:1987
    
Recommended practice for seismic qualification of Class IE equipment for nuclear power generating stations
IRPCG
    
Changerooms Design Operation and Maintenance a Nuclear Industry Code of Practice
JSP 440
    
Defence Manual for Security
JSP 467
    
The specification of power driven lifting appliances used for handling conventional and nuclear armaments
JSP 482
    
Explosives regulations
JSP 538
    
Issue 2. Regulation of the Nuclear Weapon Programme – Nuclear Weapon Safety Principles and Safety Criteria and Safety Principles and Guidelines for Nuclear Weapon Systems
Kincade, R.G. Anderson J. – Electrical Power Institute
    
Human Factors Guide for Nuclear Power Plant Control Room Development. Other standards
Mil Std 1472D
    
Department of Defence: Human engineering requirements for military systems, equipment and facilities
Mil Std 1472F
    
Department of Defence: Design Criteria Standard – Human engineering
MoD/DE Functional Standard Design and Maintenance Guide 02
    
'Glazing standards for MoD buildings subject to terrorist threat'
NF0121/1
    
Ergonomics: Guidelines for the design of operator interfaces. British Nuclear Fuels plc
SI 1988 No. 1657
    
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH)
SI 1998 No. 2307
    
The lifting operations and lifting equipment regulations (LOLER)
SI 1999 No. 3232
    
Ionising Radiation Regulations (IRRs)

*25 Mar 2009 : Column 436W*
STGP10 (Sea Technology Group, MoD)
    
"HFI Management Guide"
No reference number
    
Flood Estimation Handbook, Institute of Hydrology, Wallingford, UK, 1999
No reference number
    
Flood Studies Report, Institute of Hydrology, HR Wallingford, UK, 1975
No reference number
    
The Crown Fire Standards 1997
No reference number
    
Lifting Operation and Lifting Equipment Regulations
No reference number
    
SQUG, Generic Implementation Procedure GIP for Seismic Verification of Nuclear Plant Equipment – Revision 3 A, December 2001

** *25 Mar 2009 : Column 439W*
**

     Joint Working Groups

*Nick Harvey:* To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2009, /Official Report,/ column 1150W, on nuclear weapons, how much was spent on the visits in each year; and how much was paid for by the Government in each year. [265114]
*Mr. Hutton:* Information on the precise costs is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, I am able to provide the average cost of UK attendance at the Joint Working Group meetings held in the US between 2001 and 2008; costs range from an average of £4,800 per meeting in 2001 to an average of £6,000 per meeting in 2008. All these costs are either directly or indirectly incurred by the UK Government.
**
*25 Mar 2009 : Column 439W*

*Nick Harvey:* To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how the costs of co-operation with the United States on nuclear weapons technology are shared under the co-operation terms of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement; [265115]
(2) what the /(a)/ total combined costs and /(b)/ costs to the Government of co-operation with the United States on nuclear weapons technology have been in each of the last 30 years under the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement. [265116]
*Mr. Hutton:* Co-operation on experiments and trials conducted under the auspices of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement, are generally undertaken on a “costs lie where they fall” basis. There are some exceptions to this, such as material and equipment procured to support national requirements or under bartering arrangements. The UK has also contributed to the funding of collaborative trials in the US which support the UK's strategic weapon programme.
Additionally, having judged it cost-effective to do so, MOD has recently entered into a collaborative arrangement which requires the UK to contribute financially to activities at the US National Ignition Facility (NIF) that support the UK programme. This extends the previously announced investment at the NIF to million.
Neither the total combined costs, nor costs to the UK of our collaboration with the United States under the Mutual Defence Agreement are readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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