§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will make a statement on the visit made to Dounreay by safety inspectors from Euratom in May;
(2) what information he has received from Euratom following the visit of the European Commission's safety inspectors to the Dounreay nuclear waste disposal pits in May.
§ Sir Hector Monro[holding answer 9 June 1993]: In terms of article 35 of the Euratom treaty, the European Commission has a right to verify the facilities for environmental monitoring maintained by member states. As part of the Commission's verification programme, a team of inspectors visited the United Kingdom during the period 10 to 14 May to examine monitoring facilities in the north of Scotland including those maintained as part of the surveillance of the environmental effects of operations at Dounreay. The visit did not include any inspection of the facilities for on-site solid waste disposal. The team's report to the Commission will be passed to my right hon. Friend in due course.