Written question asked by Colin Challen (Labour) on Thursday, 20 April 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 24 April 2006. It was answered by Malcolm Wicks (Labour) on Tuesday, 2 May 2006 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Thorp Nuclear Reprocessing Plant

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he expects the full net costs of the closure of the Thorp nuclear reprocessing plant to be recovered through insurance.

Answer: This is a matter for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) who became the owners of the plant and facilities of BNFL (including Thorp) when it was set up on 1 April 2005.1 understand from the NDA that it intends to make an insurance claim to cover the costs of the temporary closure of Thorp due to the incident including repairs, and any income losses resulting from the closure will be the subject of an insurance claim by the NDA. The extent of the claim will be dependant both on regulatory approval for the re-start of the facility and on the subsequent restart date. The claim is currently being compiled and validated by the NDA. This is expected to be completed by the summer in light of which discussions with loss adjusters will then begin.

Secondary information