HC Deb 17 May 1978 vol 950 c218W
Mr. Skeet

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is his estimate of the tonnage of uranium that is emitted into the atmosphere through burning 1 million tons of coal and the tonnage remaining in the ash for land fill and construction purposes.

Mr. Eadie

British coals contain on average about 1.5 parts per million of uranium, so the burning of 1 million tons of coal will involve about 1.5 tons of uranium. In power stations about 99 per cent. of this amount would be retained in the combustion system and appear in the ash going to land fill and construction uses. The fine dust emitted from the stack would contain about 35 lbs of uranium and would be widely dispersed.