§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for the Envronment if he will list the nuclear pollution papers now available, showing the latest results of 376W research and development on radioactive waste management; and if he will publish these papers together with the report completed in the summer of 1979 regarding the transport of plutonium nitrate.
§ Mr. FoxThe Department has recently issued research report 32 entitled "Review of Research on Radioactive Waste Management and Radioactivity in the Environment", a copy of which has been placed in the Library. The Department intends to report periodically, in the pollution paper series, the results of research and development on radioactive waste management, research into the effects of radioactivity and monitoring of radioactivity. The first paper is in preparation. Her Majesty's Stationery Office issues occasional reports of relevance to the current United Kingdom research programme in radioactive waste management. Articles by individal scientists are also published in specialist scientific journals.
The report prepared by the Health and Safety Executive on proposals by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority for transport of plutonium nitrate between Dounreay and Windscale will be published in due course.
§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is seeking international agreement for ocean disposal of highly active solid waste such as is currently accumulating at Atomic Energy Authority and British Nuclear Fuels Ltd., sites; and if so, with whom, and with what success.
§ Mr. FoxNo. Disposal at sea of high-level radioactive waste, as defined by the international Atomic Energy Agency, is prohibited under the present terms of the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matters—(the London dumping convention). Results from the current research programme into the feasibility of disposing of high level waste on or under the sea bed would need to be available before international discussions could be initiated.
§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has long-term plans for long-term disposal of wastes now stored at Drigg; and, if so, why.
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§ Mr. FoxMuch of the lightly contaminated waste stored at Drigg can be disposed of in the deep sea in accordance with the provisions of the London dumping convention. The Government are supporting research into methods of treating the remaining wastes to make them suitable for disposal.
§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what heed has been taken by him regarding the criticism in Australia and the United States of America of the failure of the Atomic Energy Authority's Harvest vitrification of high-level radioactive waste as a permanent containment medium; and what changes are to be implemented in the project as a consequence.
§ Mr. FoxSuch criticisms as have been made have questioned the behaviour of the Harvest material at high temperatures and pressures. In the United Kingdom the concept is to develop storage and disposal techniques so as to ensure that the waste will never be subject to such conditions. The Harvest vitrification process has so far proved a very satisfactory method of solidifying high level liquid radioactive waste. The resultant glass is highly resistant to radiation damage and leaching. Similar glasses are being developed by countries likely to have waste appropriate for this method of treatment, and it has already been demonstrated in France that they can be manufactured safely and reliably. Although other methods of solidification are also being studied in several countries, they need considerable research and development before they can be considered as potential alternatives to vitrification.
§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list in the Official Report the EEC research work, and financial assistance for that work, regarding geological formations in Scotland in connection with nuclear waste disposal.
§ Mr. FoxThe EEC has contributed to a number of research projects carried out by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority into radioactive waste management. Of these only those related to geological investigations can be specifically related to particular areas of the United Kingdom. Between 1976 and 1979 the total allocated to investigations into crys-378W talline rock formations has been about £2,600,000 of which £880,000 has been contributed by the EEC. From these sums £260,000 has been spent on drilling at Altnabreac in Scotland to which the EEC contribution is about £100,000.
§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what will be the added need for waste burial sites if his new reactor programme commences.
§ Mr. FoxThe Government recognise the importance of ensuring that safe methods are available for the disposal of all types of radioactive wastes. Methods already exist for dealing with many of the wastes arising from the present nuclear power programme and they can also be used for similar wastes from the recently announced reactor programme. This Department is co-ordinating a comprehensive research programme to determine the most appropriate disposal methods for the other wastes which are at present safely stored. The new reactor programme does not require a change in the research studies.
§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration has been given to the relative merits of burying nuclear waste (a) in the sea or underground and (b) keeping it above ground in the vicinity of the small concentrated areas where it is now manufactured; and why he favours the former method of storage rather than storage in an environment where it could be constantly under scientific surveillance for the whole period of its storage.
§ Mr. KingIn its sixth report "Nuclear Power and the Environment" (Cmnd. 6618 1976) the Royal Commission on environmental pollution considered that any method of storing long-lived highly active radioactive wastes for the indefinite future was unacceptable because it would require human surveillance over very long periods and the stored wastes might be vulnerable to accidents, war and climatic changes. The Government agree that although storage is a necessary part of radioactive waste management, ways must be investigated for disposing of long-lived wastes away from man's environment.
379WThe Government are therefore co-ordinating and managing a comprehensive research programme into three possible disposal options: into geological formations on land, and on, and under, the ocean bed. It will be at least 10 years before a judgment can be made about the relative merits of each option, or about alternative methods for containing these wastes.