§ Mr. Humeasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what study he has made of the resolution of the European Parliament against the continued dumping of radioactive wastes into the sea; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacGregorI have been asked to reply.
Most of the points made in the resolution refer to Community action, and the Government will of course respond appropriately to any proposals which the European Commission puts forward.
As regards national action, many of the recommendations have already been implemented by the United Kingdom. The main point on radioactive waste is the wish expressed that, after 1 January 1984, no more radioactive waste should be directly discharged into the sea from nuclear power plants, such as the Windscale reactor. The Government are fully conscious of the concern about discharges from Sellafield and have already taken steps to reduce the levels of radionuclides released. The site operator, British Nuclear Fuels plc, also has in hand a major programme of investment costing over £100 million which will reduce radioactive emissions still further, and the Government are discussing more stringent authorisations with it. We shall also be considering whether yet further reductions should be sought in the longer term in the light of technological developments.
The resolution also deals with the dumping of radioactive waste at sea. This question was discussed at the 1983 meeting of the London Dumping Convention which agreed to a United Kingdom proposal for an international review of the relevant scientific and technical evidence and also to a Spanish resolution calling for a voluntary suspension of sea dumping operations pending this review. The United Kingdom is playing a full part in the review, which is expected to report back to the next full meeting of the London Dumping Convention in 1985. At the national level, the Government and the Trades Union Congress have also set up a review of the dumping of radioactive waste in the north Atlantic, which is being chaired by Professor Fred Holliday. While this review is in progress, the Government have announced that they will not authorise any further sea dumping of radioactive waste.