Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy if details were exchanged at the Lascar meeting in Tokyo on 17 to 21 October, in regard to the facility attachments and particular safeguards provisions arranged for the MBA III reprocessing section of the Windscale reprocessing works at British Nuclear Fuels Ltd., Sellafield, under article 35 of Euratom regulation No. 3227/76 of 19 October 1976.
§ Mr. Michael SpicerThese matters were not discussed at the Lascar meeting. The Lascar programme is concerned with the application of safeguards to future large scale reprocessing plants.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what commitment has been made by his Department to the Lascar review group on the implementation of safeguards to large-scale reprocessing plants.
§ Mr. Michael SpicerThe safeguards office of the Department will be represented at all meetings of the Lascar group.
§ Mr. Frank CookTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement on the recent revisions of the costs of decommissioning British Nuclear Fuel's magnox reprocessing plant, indicating how and what compulsion the operators have to provide for these costs in their accounting policies.
§ Mr. Michael SpicerBritish Nuclear Fuels plc's annual report for 1987–88, published on 8 November, reported on a review which had been undertaken of the company's policy towards and provisions made for decommissioning of BNFL plant, including the Magnox reprocessing plant. The decommissioning policies adopted by BNFL and the provisions made to meet liabilities formed part of the company's annual accounts which were audited in accordance with approved auditing standards and accepted by the company's auditors.