§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether nuclear waste dumps operated by Nirex will be used to dump waste produced by reprocessing; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaldegraveNo, there are no plans to do so.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, in the event of a joint site being
62Wdisposal of housing land owned by a local authority at less than the best consideration reasonably obtainable; and if he will list those applications to which consent was given, together with details of the consideration actually obtained by the local authority and the best consideration which would reasonably have been obtainable.
§ Sir George YoungThe information requested could not be provided in full without disproportionate effort and expense. The following is a list of the major applications received since June 1981, involving housing land worth £100,000 or more, where my right hon. Friend has consented to a disposal at less than best price.
It was a condition of all these consents that the reduction in the disposal price should be passed on in full, in the form of discounts off the sale price of individual houses or plots to purchasers falling within defined priority categories. These discounts were subject to the normal 5-year repayment rule (except in one case, where special terms applied). My right hon. Friend also required each disposing authority to make a contribution from the general rate fund to the housing revenue account to reflect the difference between the actual sale price and full market value.
selected for disposal of both civil and naval nuclear waste, a single planning inquiry will address both issues; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaldegraveYes.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what specialised skills and equipment will be required to enable NIREX to carry out geological 63W studies of the selected sites for dumping of nuclear waste; how it will be financed; and whether it will be directly managed by NIREX or contracted out.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI understand that the exploration will be carried out by consultants and contractors on behalf of, and paid by NIREX. It will be for all three parties to decide what equipment and skilled employees are needed, subject to any requirements the special development order authorising investigations may impose.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment for how long, and on what scale, the information and publicity campaign being mounted by NIREX in the four sites it has selected for consideration for dumping nuclear waste will be sustained; and what proposals he has for supplementing this campaign by local campaigns run by his Department.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI understand that NIREX proposes to produce information on their activities for as long as is necessary. In this financial year it has budgeted £896,000 for this purpose. There are no proposals for local campaigns run by my Department.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the number of letters, representations and petition signatures against nuclear dumping received by him from 1 April to 15 April from each of the four areas which NIREX has shortlisted as nuclear waste dumps; what was the number of such protests about nuclear dumping in general; and what was the number of letters, representations and petition signatures in favour of nuclear dumping for each site up to 1 April and from 1 to 15 April.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI shall give the hon. Member an answer as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his proposals on the timetable involved for visiting each of the four sites shortlisted by NIREX as nuclear waste dumps.
§ Mr. WaldegraveOn behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, I visited the site at Elstow on 16 April. I am visiting today those at Fulbeck and South Killingholme. I also intend to visit Bradwell; a date has yet to be arranged.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects present disposal facilities for low and intermediate level nuclear waste will be full at current rates of disposal.
§ Mr. WaldegravePresent disposal facilities for low level nuclear wastes will be full by about 2010. This assumes that compaction is introduced at Drigg in 1987. If NIREX is able to develop a further near surface facility, for which it is now investigating four sites, the life of Drigg could be extended to about 2040. There are, at present, no disposal facilities for intermediate level waste.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if it is envisaged in the event of South Killingholme being chosen as the site for dumping civil nuclear waste, that a dump on the same or an adjacent site for the disposal of nuclear waste from naval submarines will be managed by NIREX; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. WaldegraveIf South Killingholme were eventually chosen as a disposal site, it would take civil and defence wastes, including waste from nuclear submarines. NIREX would manage it.
§ Dr. David Clarkasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if the announcement on nuclear waste dumps by the Minister of Local Government, Environment and the Countryside at Elstow on 16 April is Government policy; and if he will place a copy in the Library.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI made no announcement when I visited Elstow. What I did have were useful discussions with local representatives.