HC Deb 03 November 1976 vol 918 cc1386-8
6. Mr. Forman

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will call in the planning application submitted by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. for the expansion of its nuclear reprocessing facilities at Windscale.

Mr. Shore

I understand that the planning committee of the Cumbria County Council decided yesterday that it was minded to approve, subject to agreement of appropriate conditions, the planning application, but that the application should first be referred to me as a departure from the development plan. I will decide what action to take when I have studied its representations.

Mr. Forman

Whatever action the Secretary of State decides to take, will he undertake now to make a detailed statement to the House about this matter within the next 21 days and give special consideration to the idea of calling in that part of the application relating to oxide fuel reprocessing, which is the most sensitive aspect of the expansion plans of BNFL and which has caused most concern not only in the Royal Commission reports on environmental pollution but also among local residents?

Mr. Shore

I think that I should wait until I receive the observations in the letter from the Cumbria County Council which, I understand, is on its way to me now, and, of course, I shall consider reporting to the House on any decision that I make.

Mr. David Steel

Will the right hon. Gentleman explain why he did not call in this application in the first place since the implications of the decision go far beyond the interests of Cumbria alone? Will he give a more firm undertaking to report to the House on the matter and not merely consider reporting?

Mr. Shore

I am quite willing to give that assurance. I will report to the House. I had to consider this, and I did. I considered it under two separate responsibilities—that is to say, as the Minister concerned with planning and planning applications, and also in my other role as guardian of the Nuclear Installations Act 1965, in which I have a quite separate responsibility to satisfy myself about the safety of the disposal of nuclear wastes. I can assure the House that I shall exercise that responsibility to the full.

Mr. Robin F. Cook

Has my right hon. Friend seen the statement by the Chairman of Cumbria County Council yesterday that a local planning authority is not competent to judge the safety standards of pollution or the security of fissile material? In view of this, and since the matters raise concern well beyond Cumbria, will he accept the view of the Town and Country Planning Association that the planning of these matters should be undertaken at a national rather than at a local level?

Mr. Shore

The safety considerations are those which most concern people who have urged me and the county council either to refuse or to call in the application. But I must point out that not only have I myself the responsibilities which I mentioned under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 but that there is a further separate responsibility for nuclear installations of all kinds which falls upon my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy. These responsibilities are exercised with very great care over every stage of the construction of nuclear power stations and nuclear-associated facilities.

Mr. Thompson

When he is taking his decision, will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind the rising tide of public opinion in the Solway area against the concentration in the area of so many of the country's dangerous nuclear industries?

Mr. Shore

Obviously a number of people have written to me, and there was a public meeting in Cumbria itself during which these matters were thrashed out and discussed by all the local interests involved. But it is only fair and proper to say that the overwhelming opinion at the public meeting, which was well advertised before being held, was in favour of going ahead with the project and expressed considerable confidence in the safety procedures.