§ Mrs. Angela KnightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if radioactive waste management policy will be considered as part of the nuclear review.
§ Mr. GummerIn parallel with the nuclear review, details of which were announced today by my hon. Friend the Minister for Energy, my Department will be heading a separate but complementary review of radioactive waste management policy.
The radioactive waste management review will examine current policy in the light of changes which have taken place since the Department published its national strategy in 1984. It will range wider than the nuclear industry—covering radioactive waste management as a whole. It will not address the suitability of specific sites, this being a matter for the planning and regulatory process, or the merits of the operation of existing nuclear power stations or those in the pipeline.
The Department proposes to publish its preliminary conclusions later in the summer, as a basis for consultation.
Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution will also be issuing for consultation a revision of the Department's 1994 publication "Disposal facilities on land for low and intermediate level Radioactive Wastes: principles for the protection of the human environment".
534WIn parallell with this latter exercise, the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee, together with the Advisory Committee on Safety at Nuclear Installations, will be asked to consider the approach to site selection for disposal facilities and the criteria for ensuring the protection of human health. Further details will be announced later.