§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what expenditure, and in which states, her Department has incurred on the decommissioning of nuclear installations and equipment, both defence or civil-related, in the former Soviet Union in each year since 1996; and how much she plans to spend in 2001–02. [40573]
§ Mr. WilsonIn July 2000, the Government announced an inter-Departmental £84 million Former Soviet Union Programme of expenditure in the period 2000 to 2004 on nuclear problems in the Former Soviet Union. This Programme is being managed by the Department. Its budget bought together both existing commitments and proposed new areas of work. We are in the early stages of establishing a comprehensive project portfolio, which includes defence-related spend in relation to plutonium disposition, submarine spent-nuclear fuel in NW Russia and the physical protection of proliferation on sensitive nuclear materials. Forecast outturn for the Programme in 2001–02 is estimated at £16,000,000.
The following programme funds have assisted the decommissioning of nuclear power plants in the Former Soviet Union. These form part of the bilateral Nuclear Safety Programme—one of the Former Soviet Union programmes:
Year Expenditure under the Nuclear Safety Programme (£) 1996–97 — 1997–98 111,000 1998–99 — 1999–2000 53,000 2000–01 209,000 Planned expenditure in this area during 2001–02 is £313,000 for the Nuclear Safety Programme in Lithuania and Ukraine, and 1,500,000 Euro for the International Decommissioning Support fund for Ignalina.