§ Mr. WatsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) pursuant to her answer of 11 March 2004,Official Report, column 1683W, on the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, when her officials have been actively seeking new spent nuclear fuel reprocessing contracts in the last 24 months; [164809]
(2) pursuant to her answer of 11 March 2004, Official Report, column 1683W, on the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, whether the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will be seeking new spent fuel reprocessing contracts. [164810]
§ Mr. TimmsMy officials have taken no steps to actively seek new reprocessing contracts in the last 24 months. It will be matter for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to decide whether or not to seek new reprocessing contracts once it is established.
Before any new THORP contacts could be concluded or changes made to existing contracts that increased volume of spent fuel to be reprocessed at THORP, the approval of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry would be required. Before making any decision on any such future proposal, the Government would review it against the specific criteria that were set out in the July 2002 White Paper on Managing the Nuclear Legacy.