Thank you Mr President

I have the honour to introduce draft resolution L1 Rev 1 entitled ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’ which has been proposed by a group of states comprising Canada, Germany, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The text is largely based on last year’s resolution but has been updated to reflect some of the key developments over the last 18 months in what has been a rather dramatic time for Sri Lanka – an economic crisis, mass protests, and a change in government, all of which have had a significant bearing on the human rights situation in the country.

The draft both recognises the challenges which Sri Lanka has faced during this period and acknowledges progress where this has occurred.

It reflects some of the more recent concerns outlined in the High Commissioner’s report, especially the human rights impact of the economic crisis.

And it also addresses several longstanding issues which still need to be addressed.  These include the lack of accountability for past violations, the many unresolved cases of enforced disappearances, the need for Sri Lanka to meet its own commitments on the devolution of political authority, as well as the need to uphold the rights of all people in Sri Lanka including Tamils and Muslims.

The main requests in the resolution are in Operative Paragraphs (OP) 8 and 18.

OP8 seeks to continue the work initiated in last year’s resolution which created capacity within the Office of the High Commissioner to collect, consolidate, analyse and preserve information to support judicial and other proceedings.

This capacity was set up in response to the lack of progress made by Sri Lanka’s domestic legal mechanisms towards accountability for past alleged gross violations of human rights. Unfortunately, this capacity has only been fully operational since May of this year and so requires more time to complete its mandate. We are therefore seeking to extend it for a further period as recommended by the former High Commissioner.

OP18 requests further reporting by OHCHR and proposes to move from an 18-month time frame to 2 years. This is in recognition of the severe challenges which Sri Lanka is currently facing – allowing Sri Lanka sufficient time and space to make progress on human rights in what we all recognise is a very difficult context.

Mr President – the UK is a close partner to and long-standing friend of Sri Lanka, our times run deep. We bring this resolution in order to help Sri Lanka address ongoing challenges and in order to encourage progress on reconciliation, justice and human rights.

I commend this draft resolution to my fellow members of this Council.

This results from a change to the way radioactive waste will be stored at the site.

Pressurised water reactors at Hinkley Point C will use uranium fuel to create heat and generate electricity when operating. Once used within the reactor, nuclear fuel will undergo a period of cooling in a fuel pool. It will then be stored on-site before being sent off-site to a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF).

NNB Generation Company (HPC) Limited was originally issued a radioactive substances environmental permit in 2013. In the original design radioactive spent fuel was to be stored on-site in ‘wet storage’ – a method of submerging and storing in water.

The operator earlier this year applied to the Environment Agency for a variation to its permit. This was to reflect the change in the technology by which it will store spent nuclear fuel, from wet storage to ‘dry storage’. Dry storage will see used nuclear fuel stored in sealed containers within a facility before it is sent to the GDF. The permit covers the associated discharges, not the storage of waste. However, a change to the permit was required to remove or amend specific conditions related to the previous wet storage technology that are no longer relevant.

The operator has said altering the storage method will not change the expected radiation dose from discharges to the general public or the wider environment. Such doses will remain extremely small.

Following a 4-week public consultation over the proposed change, the Environment Agency has today agreed to amend the permit. More than 40 organisations and members of the public responded to the consultation.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said:

We agree with the applicant’s demonstration that the proposed change to spent nuclear fuel storage represents Best Available Technique (BAT) for Hinkley Point C. We are satisfied that the change will not lead to an increase in radioactive discharges and will not cause adverse radiological impact on people and the environment.

The changes will not impact our ability to effectively regulate the site and activities. We will continue to assess spent fuel storage and its impact at Hinkley Point C to ensure that discharges are minimised and that BAT is applied.

Separately, NNB Generation Company (HPC) Limited will be seeking the necessary changes to its Development Consent Order for Hinkley Point C later this year.

More information is available at: Consultation on a variation to the Radioactive Substances Regulation Environmental Permit for Hinkley Point C (HPC) Nuclear Power Station, nr Bridgwater, TA5 1UD – Environment Agency – Citizen Space.

For more about the Environment Agency and its regulatory role with Hinkley Point C visit Hinkley Point: nuclear regulation – GOV.UK.