No such reports have been commissioned or published in the last 12 months.

Any nuclear reactor or facility proposed for deployment in the UK is subject to regulation. Therefore, any small modular reactor (SMR) design proposed for construction would undergo safety, security and environmental design assessment, including an assessment of cyber security.

Ensuring safety and security is the legal duty of operators and safety and security at all nuclear sites are kept under regular review. The UK’s independent regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), carries out inspections to ensure operators are fulfilling their duties and that robust safety and security measures are in place across the industry.

DECC is working with ONR to ensure that the regulatory regime is fit for any possible future deployment of SMRs. DECC is currently developing the detail of the programme that will be taken forward as part of the £250m nuclear innovation, research and development funding announced by my rt. hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer at the Autumn Statement. The recommendations and advice of the Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board and key stakeholders will be taken into account in the process.

The Government set out plans in the Spending Review to invest more in clean energy research and development over the next five years as part of Mission Innovation. By 2020/21 we will be spending in excess of £400m under Mission Innovation.

The Joint Research and Innovation Centre (JRIC) is envisaged to be the subject of a commercial agreement between the National Nuclear Laboratory and the Chinese National Nuclear Corporation.

These two organisations are still in the process of negotiating such an agreement and will need to consider details on the structures, funding, governance and accountability of the JRIC. As such, it is too early for Government to be able to comment on the outcomes of such a negotiation.

We continue to maintain an interest in developments of these discussions and will work, where appropriate, with our counterparts in the Chinese government to ensure that outcomes are mutually beneficial to the research landscape of both nations.

The Joint Research and Innovation Centre (JRIC) is envisaged to be the subject of a commercial agreement between the National Nuclear Laboratory and the Chinese National Nuclear Corporation.

These two organisations are still in the process of negotiating such an agreement and will need to consider details on the structures, funding, governance and accountability of the JRIC. As such, it is too early for Government to be able to comment on the outcomes of such a negotiation.

We continue to maintain an interest in developments of these discussions and will work, where appropriate, with our counterparts in the Chinese government to ensure that outcomes are mutually beneficial to the research landscape of both nations.

The Joint Research and Innovation Centre (JRIC) is envisaged to be the subject of a commercial agreement between the National Nuclear Laboratory and the Chinese National Nuclear Corporation.

These two organisations are still in the process of negotiating such an agreement and will need to consider details on the structures, funding, governance and accountability of the JRIC. As such, it is too early for Government to be able to comment on the outcomes of such a negotiation.

We continue to maintain an interest in developments of these discussions and will work, where appropriate, with our counterparts in the Chinese government to ensure that outcomes are mutually beneficial to the research landscape of both nations.

The Psychoactive Substances Bill, introduced in the House of Lords on 28 May 2015, will tackle the reckless trade in psychoactive substances. The Government attaches a high priority to bona fide scientific research. Schedule 1 to the Bill already excludes all investigational medicinal products and research regulated by the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004.

The Government is engaging with the scientific community so that those conducting bona fide research which involves the human consumption of psychoactive substances fall outside of the scope of the Bill, and expect to table Government amendments on this issue.

This is an important and ground breaking first report from the Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board, who are to be congratulated on the depth of their analysis. I very much welcome their work and the contribution it will make to the debate on where next for the UK nuclear industry.

Work is already on-going in respect to a number of the recommendations. In December last year Government announced up to £67million of capital to provide essential nuclear R&D infrastructure over the next 6 years.

In line with recommendations from NIRAB, the National Nuclear Laboratory and the Energy and Climate Change Committee, we are already undertaking more work to build our understanding of Small Modular Reactors and whether they can play a role in the UK’s future energy mix.

Other recommendations set out by the NIRAB speak to a sustained and longer-term programme of work and will therefore need to be considered as part of any future Government review of spending.

The UK became an observer member of the SESAME Interim Council in 2001. Professor Samar Hasnain of Liverpool University has represented the UK Government at the SESAME Council, following his appointment in 2004. The Government has provided funding since 2008/9 to Professor Samar Hasnain to support his role as the UK’s representative on the SESAME council as follows:

- 2008/9 – 2013/14: £15k per annum

- Additional funding of £22k per annum was recently approved following a review of the project for the financial years 2014/15 – 2015/16

Professor Samar Hasnain in his role as an observer undertakes various activities on behalf of the Government for the progress of SESAME including:

- Representing the Government at the Interim Council meetings

- Producing an annual report on SESAME and its benefits to the UK; and

- Spreading awareness of the existence and desirability of SESAME to existing and potential SESAME member countries.

He is also an active member of the Science Advisory Committee which meets twice a year.

This Department does not currently fund any other collaborative scientific research projects between Israel, Iran and the Palestinian Authority.

The Higher Education-Business and Community Interaction survey showed that contract research from business carried out by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) amounted to £441 million in 12-13. However, information is not held on the precise terms of these contracts or the physical locations in which they are fulfilled.

Where an HEI is in receipt of research grants from the science budget and HE funding bodies, a requirement of the funding is that the outcomes are made publicly available, although HEIs are also encouraged to secure necessary intellectual property protection to enable subsequent exploitation. The Government is also implementing a policy of “Open Access” to the published findings of this publicly funded research. In the case of research consultancy, where the research is entirely funded by business, then the outcome would normally be owned by the business.

Government is committed to ensure the application of research and getting universities and business working more closely together. World Economic Forum evaluation now ranks UK among the top five in the world for university-industry collaboration in R and D. Individual institutions have obligations under State Aid regulations and under their Charity status to ensure that their contract work with business is managed appropriately.

On 26 May 2014, the Building Research Establishment {BRE) signed an agreement with the Shenzhen Municipal Government to set up a training and R&D centre in China's fastest growing city.

The centre in Shenzhen will deliver training on a national scale to other cities and promote its services including certifying buildings to green construction standards.

BRE aims to certify over 1,000 buildings across China to its standards which will generate £10 million income and could create up to £200 million of work for UK supply chain companies.

The effects of the use of a UK nuclear warhead are underpinned by modelling and analysis. The effects are dependent on a wide range of variable factors including:

the yield and design of the weapon;

the accuracy of the delivery system;

the nature and construction of the target;

the geographical characteristics of the surrounding terrain;

geological conditions in the target area;

the height of weapon burst; and

the weather conditions at the target.

The DISTINCTIVE project recently funded with a £4.9 million grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) was commissioned to maintain underpinning research capability and help address key challenges in the area of decommissioning and pre-treatment of nuclear waste prior to disposal or re-use.

A workshop was held to scope the research. Participants included representatives from academic research groups in the UK working in this area and from the main industry players. The university participants were from Leeds, Sheffield, UCL, Imperial, Manchester, Loughborough, the University of Central Lancashire, Strathclyde, Lancaster and Birmingham. The Government and industry participants were from EPSRC, Sellafield Ltd, the National Nuclear Laboratory, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the Electronics Knowledge Transfer Network and the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

The proposal was assessed by an independent panel—half of whom were retired nuclear engineers with no current affiliation to organisations in the nuclear sector. The other panel members were nuclear industry experts but from companies that were not involved in the scoping of the project; nor will they be involved in the subsequent operation of the programme.

Over this and the previous financial years DECC has provided:

£6 million via the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for the National Nuclear User Facility, which provides new equipment for shared use across a range of universities and facilities across the UK. This has included equipment for the university of Manchester, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy and the National Nuclear Laboratory.

£1.5 million for a nuclear R&D programme managed by the NNL.

£3 million contribution towards a Technology Strategy Board competition. This aimed to fund 36 nuclear R&D projects and leverage a further £13 million of private sector investment.

A £3 million contribution to a further nuclear R&D competition in March 2014, which will be co-funded by TSB, DECC and Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

The Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre is not supported via DECC funding streams.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has conducted three original studies that include consideration of the differential effects on males and females of exposure to ionising radiation. The following reports are the outcomes of the three studies mentioned above and they consider health risks associated with exposure to ionising radiation, largely cancer, for males and females separately.

These include:

The third analysis of the National Registry for Radiation Workers HPA-RPD-062,

www.hpa.org.uk/Publications/Radiation/HPARPDSeriesReports/HPARPD062/

Cancers in the offspring of female radiation workers HPA-RPD-063,

www.hpa.org.uk/Publications/Radiation/HPARPDSeriesReports/HPARPD063/

and

Risks associated with medical x-ray examinations HPA-CRCE-028,

www.hpa.org.uk/Publications/Radiation/CRCEScientificAndTechnicalReportSeries/HPACRCE028/

Since 2005 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has spent the following amounts on research into the physics of nuclear fission and computer modelling of the fusion process, focused on the safety security and performance of the deterrent warhead:

Specific costs for years 2005 to 2007 are not available so an estimate has been provided.

These figures do not include research into the much wider area of submarine nuclear propulsion, which uses fission.

The MOD has not demonstrated nuclear fission nor fusion since the last underground nuclear weapons test in 1991.

Directive 2001/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2001 concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products prohibits the placing on the market of tobacco for oral use, including snus.

In February 2008, the European Commission's independent Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) published a report titled “Health Effects of Smokeless Tobacco Products” that reviewed the evidence on the safety of smokeless tobacco products. SCENIHR concluded that smokeless tobacco products are addictive and their use is hazardous to health.

The SCENIHR is one of three independent non-food Scientific Committees that provide the European

Commission with scientific advice to support policy development relating to consumer safety, public health and the environment.

The Government is satisfied that SCENIHR's report is comprehensive, and has no plans to undertake any further specific reviews into the safety of snus.

A copy of SCENIHR's report has been placed in the Library.

Directive 2001/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2001 concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products prohibits the placing on the market of tobacco for oral use, including snus.

In February 2008, the European Commission's independent Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) published a report titled “Health Effects of Smokeless Tobacco Products” that reviewed the evidence on the safety of smokeless tobacco products. SCENIHR concluded that smokeless tobacco products are addictive and their use is hazardous to health.

The SCENIHR is one of three independent non-food Scientific Committees that provide the European

Commission with scientific advice to support policy development relating to consumer safety, public health and the environment.

The Government is satisfied that SCENIHR's report is comprehensive, and has no plans to undertake any further specific reviews into the safety of snus.

A copy of SCENIHR's report has been placed in the Library.

The ad hoc Nuclear Research and Development Advisory Board has met three times since it was established earlier this year. The dates for these meetings were as follows:

27 March 2012;

24 April 2012; and

31 May 2012.

The membership of the Nuclear Research and Development Advisory Board is detailed in the following list.

The Nuclear Research and Development Advisory Board is funded by the Government Office for Science.

The cost of the three meetings to date is £586.40. This includes room bookings, refreshments and lunch for a visiting French delegation.

At present, there is no web presence for the Advisory Board. However, the board has agreed that a summary of minutes from meetings will be made available to anyone upon request.

Membership Nuclear Research and Development Advisory Board

Sir John Beddington: Government Chief Scientific Advisor, GO-Science

Professor David MacKay: Chief Scientific Adviser, DECC

Dr Stephen de Souza: Head of Nuclear and Radioactive Waste

Professor John Perkins: Chief Scientific Adviser, BIS

Dr Graeme Reid: Head of Research Funding Unit, BIS

Mr George Beveridge: Deputy Managing Director, Sellafield Ltd

Professor Richard Clegg: Global Nuclear Director, Lloyds Register

Professor Steve Cowley: Chief Executive Officer, UK Atomic Energy Authority

Mr Stuart Crooks: Chief Technology Officer, Nuclear Generation, EDF

Professor Robin Grimes: Director, Imperial College Centre for Nuclear Engineering

Mr Norman Harrison: Director, Strategic Development, Babcock International

Professor Paul Howarth: Managing Director, National Nuclear Laboratory

Dame Sue Ion: Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering

Professor Francis Livens: Radiochemistry, University of Manchester

Mrs Jean Llewellyn OBE: Chief Executive, National Skills Academy Nuclear

Professor Rebecca Lunn: Engineering Geosciences, University of Strathclyde

Dr Graeme Nicholson: Director, Science and Technology, AWE

Mr Keith Parker: Chief Executive, Nuclear Industry Association

Professor Richard Parker: Director of Research and Technology, Rolls-Royce

Professor Nawal Prinja: Technical Director, AMEC Nuclear

Professor Andrew Sherry: Director, Dalton Nuclear Institute, University of Manchester

Dr Adrian Simper: Strategy Director, Nuclear Decommissioning Agency

Dr Mike Weightman: HM Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations.