Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what criteria were used to appoint members to the Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board; what annual budget is allocated to support the Board; what studies have been commissioned by or from the Board; and what the web address is of the site where the Board's meeting agendas are posted.

The Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board was created at the beginning of 2014 and is tasked with providing information and advice to Government and other public sector funding bodies on the priorities for UK nuclear innovation and options for better coordinating the UK nuclear Research landscape. The first annual report is expected from the Board at the beginning of next year. It is intended that this will be published.

With the exception of the Chair, appointments to the NIRAB are unfunded. The NIRAB does not have an annual budget, however Government has contracted with the Nuclear Innovation and Research Office (NIRO) to provide secretariat support to the NIRAB.

Members were invited to join NIRAB, by Ministerial decision, for a period of up to three years. Members were selected on the basis of their individual ability to provide credible, authoritative and expert advice across a number of sectors related to UK nuclear research and innovation. Members are appointed as individuals and are expected to represent the interests of their sectors.

Other than the annual report, no further studies are currently commissioned from or by the NIRAB. As part of the evidence gathering activities for the annual report, NIRAB will consider the on-going feasibility study into Small Modular Reactors being undertaken by an industry consortium led by the National Nuclear Laboratory.

The NIRO, in its function as the secretariat to the NIRAB, is considering the best way to make future work or documentation, such as the minutes of the NIRAB meetings, publically available.