§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy which areas of the United Kingdom have offered suitable prospects for uranium exploration; and whether he has been able to test rock samples from the Orkneys.
§ Mr. Norman LamontExploration work undertaken by the Institute of Geological Sciences over a number of years identified four areas in the United Kingdom where uranium resources are believed to be present: Cornwall and the Orcadian rocks of Caithness, North Sutherland and Orkney. To date there are no proven economically recoverable deposits of uranium in the United Kingdom. It is not the policy of the United Kingdom Government to engage in uranium exploration. Commercial interests, with financial support from the European Communities, have undertaken exploration programmes in the United Kingdom. Details were given in my reply to the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Mr. Wilson) on 6 November 1979.—[Vol. 973, c. 103–4.]