HL Deb 25 April 1986 vol 473 cc1380-2

11.15 a.m.

The Lord Bishop of Lincoln

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why they are proposing to allow NIREX to investigate near-surface depository sites in Fulbeck, Elstow, Bradwell and South Killinghome in view of the widespread concern this is causing in these ares, and in view of the alternative disposal methods used elsewhere in Europe.

The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Elton)

My Lords, because that is a proven way of disposing safely of materials that must be disposed of.

The Lord Bishop of Lincoln

My Lords, while thanking the Minister for that Answer, may I ask him this: is it not contrary to the report of the environment Select Committee of the House of Commons? Does the Minister not believe that the questions raised by that report should be addressed and answered before further exploration of any sites takes place; not least, the questions raised about the handling of the public, experience of which we in Lincolnshire have not felt at all happy about?

Lord Elton

My Lords, I understand that the issue is a sensitive one, but the criticisms of the Select Committee were directed mainly at intermediate and high-level radiation from waste. We are talking now about the low-level end of the spectrum.

Baroness David

My Lords, will the Minister say whether there have been any responses made to the Special Development Order that the House was told was being laid at the time when a Statement was made on 25th February? The requisite six weeks are now up and we wonder what those consultations and representations have brought forward.

Lord Elton

My Lords, I regret that I am not aware of the response to which the noble Baroness has referred. I will write to her.

Lord Belhaven and Stenton

My Lords, will my noble friend tell the House, what is NIREX?

Lord Elton

My Lords, I find myself unaccustomedly lost for words. I now recall that it is the Nuclear Industry Radiological Executive.

The Lord Bishop of Lincoln

My Lords, while accepting what was said by the noble Lord the Minister about the report dealing considerably and largely with high-level radioactive material, may I ask whether or not he is aware that it also devotes a lot of its work to low-level and intermediate material being deposited? It is very critical of the way in which we do that at this moment in this country. That situation causes very great anxiety to those of us in South Humberside and Lincolnshire, in respect of the possibility of the same methods being used in that area.

Lord Elton

My Lords, I take note of the criticisms of the Select Committee, and so do Her Majesty's Government. When I repeated the original announcement in this House—and I do not doubt that the right reverend Prelate has read the Statement that I made then and the exchanges that followed—I described the extremely elaborate system that is proposed. I remind the right reverend Prelate that all that is in question now is a Special Development Order allowing a survey to be made of four possible sites, to see whether they would be suitable for the disposal of such material. There will be ample time for further disussion of the detail of the method of disposal during the period of that survey. Given the need to dispose of that material and the relatively small difficulty of securing safety as compared with other radiological materials, it would not be right to postpone the search and the survey until after we had agreed upon the detail.

Lord Newall

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that the duty of NIREX is to find the best possible option? In a recent best possible option study by the Department of the Environment, it came out quite clearly that using bore holes offshore is a much better option than burying the waste on land.

Lord Elton

My Lords, here we are again looking at the higher radiation end of the spectrum. Certainly we have not abandoned consideration of sub-seabed disposal, but we must be aware of international opinion on the subject.

Baroness David

My Lords, may I ask the Minister whether the plan to build environmental impact assessment into the planning system, which was announced, I think, by the Minister of State this week, will have any effect on the eventual choice of site?

Lord Elton

My Lords, regardless of new procedures, we have always had careful assessments made of the environmental impact in this important matter.