§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Whitty on 2 July (WA 54), who decides, and according to what criteria, which depleted uranium is declared waste and which is held as a national resource; and [HL3958]
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Whitty on 2 July (WA 54), how much depleted uranium, by tonnage, is currently (a) waste; and (b) national resource. [HL3959]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)The quantity of depleted uranium (DU) held as a waste, as at 1 April 2001, was 1,600 tonnes. This figure is taken from the 2002 Radioactive Waste Inventory and is the most recent figure available. Total quantities of DU held as a national resource as of 31 December 2003, as contained in the annual UK Civil Plutonium and Uranium Figures for 2003, was 59,860 tonnes.
DU is declared a waste, if, following processing, no further nuclear use can be forseen, or where, based on current technology, it is deemed economically irrecoverable. This is based on definitions contained in the 1973 Euratom Safeguards Regulation 3227/76. This decision, however, ultimately rests with the owner of the waste in question.