§ Mr. Robin F. Cookasked the Secretary of State for Energy what studies are currently sponsored by the UKAEA into the disposal of vitrified nuclear waste in salt or clay formations; and how many such studies have been completed in Great Britain to date.
§ Mr. EadieThe UKAEA, in association with the Institute of Geological Sciences, is carrying out a survey of geological formations into which suitably conditioned radioactive waste might be deposited. Three principal types of formation are under consideration—hard rock, clay and salt. Assessment of the relative merits of such formations requires laboratory and field work in a number of locations. Areas of each type of formation have been identified in the United Kingdom, but initially field work here will be done only in hard rock. Field work on clay and salt formations will be done elsewhere in Europe. The results of all this work will be pooled. Depending on the assessment of the relative merits of the types of formations, field work may then begin on clay and salt formations in the United Kingdom.