§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment to which local authorities his Department has circulated the British Nuclear Fuels' application for authorisation to operate the thermal oxide reprocessing plant at Sellafield, under section 8(4A) of the Radioactive Substances Act 1960; and what criteria were used by his Department to decide in which local authorities radioactive disposal from THORP is likely to take place.
§ Mr. MacleanThe four applications received from BNFL for authorisation under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960—RSA 60—to dispose of radioactive waste from Sellafield, including proposed discharges from THORP plant were sent to Cumbria county council and Copeland district council. These local authorities were identified because, as required by section 8(4) of RSA 60, they are the ones in whose areas the Sellafield discharge points are located.
However, on 16 November 1992, the chief inspector of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution acting jointly with the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food initiated wide-ranging formal public consultations involving a large number of local authorities. This consultation is about the applications themselves, additional information supplied by BNFL, draft authorisations and related explanatory memorandums.