Two LNG risk assessment documents were released today, following an appeal by pressure group Safe Haven to the Information Commissioner last March.

A report by Gordon Milne, senior risk analyst at Lloyd's Register of Shipping, has been released in its entirety. An edited version of the Quatargas II concept risk assessment has also been made available.

The Milne report concluded that the specific qualities of LNG made the chances of an explosion "remote".

"Gas clouds are extremely unlikely to pass long distances through cities before igniting," it reads. "As the gas cloud warms up it will rise away from the surface before it dissipates into the atmosphere."

"These features combined with the high standards of design and operation throughout the industry mean that compared to other chemicals LNG poses one of the lowest threats to the general public and property."

Ted Sangster, Milford Haven Port Authority chief executive, stressed that the documents were just a part of the risk assessment process.

"A comprehensive range of risk assessments has been undertaken by us and others over many years of which these reports are just two," he said. "In total they enable us to say with confidence that LNG shipping can be handled safely and efficiently in the port."

Safe Haven spokesman, Gordon Main, expressed his surprise at the sparsity of the documents and declared them inadequate.

He said that the group was waiting for formal feedback from a panel of independent experts as to the value of the documents "but from an initial reading the worry is that these assessments appear inadequate".

Mr Main said that the Milne report did not apply specifically to the Haven and that the second report did not take into account the possibility of a cloud of flammable gas floating towards residential areas.

"To infer that either of these documents were regulator led, or independent risk assessments', similar to the HSE risk assessments for the shore side of the operation, would appear at this stage to be going too far.

These documents might form part of the useful background work to a proper regulator led, quantitative risk assessment, but they are not regulator led risk assessments themselves.

We now call upon the Port Authority to release all of its assessments, in the hope that further work really has been done. Let's hope for all our sakes that it has."