§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information his Department has on Nirex's plan to establish a new site for waste disposal in the north; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryIn March last year the Government accepted Nirex's report on the development of a deep disposal facility for low and intermediate-level radioactive waste. A copy of the report is in the Library of the House. Nirex is currently awaiting the result of a planning application for the drilling of test boreholes at Dounreay. At Sellafield, the local planning authority has recently approved an application to drill a second investigatory borehole. Only when these site investigations are complete will Nirex be able to submit proposals for a substantive development.