§ Mr. DafisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the dates, routes and nature of aircraft flights transporting nuclear waste which have taken place in United Kingdom air space to date. [4802]
§ Mr. BattleI have been asked to reply.
Since January 1990 there have been six flights carrying small amounts of nuclear waste into the United Kingdom. Five of these shipments were in 1993 and the other was in 1994, and involved UK waste arising from fabrication of fuel pins as part of the European Fast Reactor programme. The pins were fabricated in France and the associated waste was returned to the UK on these flights. Since 1994 there have been no flights involving the transport of nuclear waste in the UK. All shipments of nuclear material comply fully with national and international regulations with regard to safety and security and are in accordance with IAEA recommendations.
Information on any such flights prior to 1990 is not easily available and would incur disproportionate costs.