§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which individuals and institutions provided the information and analysis underlying his decision to reprocess existing nuclear materials at Dounreay as part of the decommissioning programme; and if he will place copies of each of the documents provided to his Department on that subject in the Library. [45451]
§ Mr. BattleI have been asked to reply.
The Government announced on 5 June 1998, Official Report, columns 385–86, that Dounreay would accept no new contracts for commercial reprocessing, and that UKAEA was planning to complete reprocessing of its own liabilities and of material subject to existing commercial contracts. This announcement was informed by advice from the UKAEA. I have therefore written to the Chairman of the UKAEA requesting him to prepare the information requested and to seek the agreement of UKAEA's committed customers for its publication. His reply will be placed in the Library of the House.
Reprocessing at Dounreay has now been stopped pending the outcome of the safety audit of the site by the Health and Safety Executive and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Decisions on completing the reprocessing of existing commitments will be made in the light of the outcome of that audit and, in particular, on the basis of UKAEA's recommendations of what, if any, new investments may be required.