§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the extent of the problem of Russian ships storing decaying nuclear waste; and if he will make a statement. [91770]
§ Mr. HoonWe are concerned about the poor state of repair of some Russian vessels around the Kola Peninsula used to store spent nuclear fuel and a lack of safe storage for this material ashore. A fuller assessment is set out in our "Background Brier entitled "The Nuclear Environment in North-West Russia". This is available on the FCO website and I am placing a copy in the Library. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has personally seen some of the storage ships during his visit to Murmansk in February and has announced over £3 million of assistance.
We are actively working with the Russians, both directly and through international donor groups, to identify suitable projects. For example, Britain has offered to assist with the licensing of interim storage casks that would permit offloading spent fuel from the Lepse, a storage barge in a particularly unsafe condition and presently moored in Murmansk harbour.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further plans his Department has for assisting with the safe handling of nuclear waste in Russia; and if he will make a statement. [91769]
§ Mr. HoonWe are in discussion with the Russian authorities, other international donors and industry experts to identify the priorities in what is a highly complex and large scale problem. An important prerequisite is a framework agreement with the Russian Government to552W deal with certain key issues such as the taxation, liability and auditing of nuclear assistance projects but we are looking forward to getting action on the ground at the earliest possible date. This process requires the input of various Departments here and we have convened a working group to co-ordinate the work.