§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on what monitoring has been undertaken of the controlled experiment in nuclear waste discharges to the Irish sea from the Windscale plant; and if he will set out in(a) historic and (b) current prices the costs incurred in carrying out the monitoring.
§ Mr. YeoAlthough historical discharges to the Irish sea from Sellafield may once have been described as a
controlled experiment in nuclear waste discharges",this has certainly not been the case in recent times. Strict discharge limits have been set and British Nuclear Fuels —BNF—plc has been required to satisfy Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution—HMIP—and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food—MAFF—inspectors that best practicable means are being applied to minimise discharges.BNF plc publishes an annual report on radioactive discharges and monitoring of the environment relating to its nuclear licensed sites, including Sellafield—formerly Windscale. In addition, HMIP and MAFF each publish annual reports on monitoring of radioactive substances. The reports of both official bodies include monitoring information relevant to historical discharges to sea from Sellafield. The costs of monitoring by BNF plc are a matter for the company. The costs of monitoring by HMIP and MAFF are recovered from the company through the levy of fees and charges in accordance with section 43 of the Radioactive Substances Act 1993.
The monitoring information shows a substantial and continuing reduction in environmental radioactivity from the peak levels in the 1970s.