§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Energy what studies have been made by or for Her Majesty's Government of the feasibility of safe land storage of nuclear waste; and which of them have been published.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI have been asked to reply.
Nuclear wastes can be, and are, stored safely and successfully prior to disposal provided appropriate precautions are taken to safeguard workers and the general public. At sites licensed under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965, it is the responsibility of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate to regulate such storage. A comparative assessment of alternative waste storage concepts for non-heat generating wastes was made in a report for my Department in April 1983 by Electrowatt Engineering Services (UK) Ltd. (DOE/RW/83.078), which is available in the National Lending Library. Studies on storage of heating-generating waste are described in the published progress reports on my Department's research programme, which are in the Library of the House.