§ Mr. Mike Thomasasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the terms of reference for the public inquiry into the Atomic Energy Authority's appliciation to test for nuclear waste disposal in the Cheviot Hills.
§ Mr. FoxNone. Arrangements for a pre-inquiry meeting will, however, be announced shortly. The applications before my right hon. Friend are for the drilling of exploratory boreholes and there is no question of disposing of radioactive waste which would have to be the subject of separate appropriate planning procedures.
§ Mr. Watsonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment in what manner and upon what time scale the public will be consulted during the selection of land sites for the disposal of high level nuclear waste.
§ Mr. FoxExploratory drilling of bore-holes to assess the geological feasibility of disposal of high level solidified radioactive waste underground is subject to the normal planning procedures under the Town and Country Planning Acts. Publicity has been and will continue to be given to proposals for exploratory drilling. Planning applications which are refused by the appropriate planning authority may be appealed against and a public inquiry arranged. If planning permission is granted and exploratory drilling takes place the results of the research will be published.
If, after the current phase of research—which is likely to take at least 10 years—into the feasibility of underground and seabed disposal options, it were decided to proceed with the demonstration of underground disposal, further, quite separate, planning consents would be required. Decisions on whether and how to proceed with full-scale disposal would not be taken until the next century. The precise form of public consultation which the Government of the day would adopt cannot be specified so far ahead.
§ Mr. Watsonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the present programme of research into the land disposal of nuclear waste is based entirely upon geographical and scientific con- 432W siderations or whether other more sociological and political factors have been taken into account.
§ Mr. FoxThe geological formations provisionally identified as suitable for research into the geological aspects of the feasibility of disposing of high-level radioactive waste underground were selected eitirely on geological considerations. The selection of research sites where exploratory drilling has been and will be proposed within those areas takes account of the need to minimise environmental disturbance without jeopardising the value of the research, and other factors such as land ownership and practicability of access.