HC Deb 21 March 1985 vol 75 cc575-6W
Mr. Frank Cook

asked the Secretary of State for Defence how much radioactive waste arises each year from military sources; and how these wastes are disposed of.

Mr. Butler

Very small quantities of liquid waste and airborne material are released to the environment. These are subject to restrictions agreed with the Department of the Environment or the Scottish Development Department. Annual releases are reported in DOE publication "Digest of Environmental Protection and Water Statistics (Radioactivity Additional Tables)." Disposal of low-level solid wastes is by shallow land burial either on site or using the national disposal service. Other solid wastes, which prior to 1983 were included in the United Kingdom sea disposal operation, are currently stored. It is not in the national interest to give details of the quantities of solid waste generated by Ministry of Defence programmes.