§ Mr. Wallaceasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the Government's policy towards amendment of the London dumping convention to regulate the control of under-seabed emplacement of radioactive waste; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacGregorThe emplacement of radioactive waste beneath the seabed was discussed at the eighth consultative meeting of the London dumping convention in February 1984. It was generally agreed that the convention was the appropriate international forum in which to address the question, but no conclusion was reached on whether the convention applied to such emplacement. It was agreed that no such disposal should take place until it had been shown to be both technically feasible and environmentally acceptable and a regulatory mechanism had been elaborated under the convention. However, investigatory work, without the use of radioactive waste, was not ruled out. The United Kingdom Government are party to these decisions.