§ 28. Mr. Pardoeasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the Government's plans for the final dumping of nuclear waste in the United Kingdom.
§ 29. Mr. Penhaligonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what investigations he is making about possible permanent sites to dump nuclear waste.
§ Mr. MarksLow-activity waste is at present disposed of to landfill, mainly at the site at Drigg operated by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd.; some medium-activity waste is disposed of to sea in accordance with international conventions. Other waste is at present stored under constant surveillance at the sites at which it originated.
A process is being developed by BNFL to convert the liquid waste into a vitrified form. It is expected that it will be possible to dispose of the waste to the deep ocean bed or to deep stable geological strata on land or under the ocean. As part of a preliminary programme of research the Atomic Energy Authority is trying to identify sites for granite test drillings to examine the suitability of the geological strata against criteria already published by the Institute of Geological Sciences.