§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Energy what research and development work has been done on the decommissioning of magnox nuclear power stations; and what has been the cost of such work.
§ Mr. GoodladThe CEGB has been carrying out a programme of research and development specifically on the decommissioning of its magnox nuclear power stations for the last five years. The approximate total cost involved amounts to £1 million.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will estimate the approximate cost of decommissioning a typical magnox nuclear power station to (a) stage 1, (b) stage 2 and (c) stage 3, stating the assumptions made about the timing of each stage of decommissioning and excluding the costs of dispersal of the radioactive waste.
§ Mr. GoodladThe CEGB has estimated decommissioning costs for a typical magnox nuclear power station as follows (1982 prices)
Stage 1 (removal of fuel and operational wastes): about £25 million. This will take about five years following station shutdown.Stage 2 (removal of all plant and buildings outside the reactor biological shields): About £30 million. This will take a further five to seven years depending on the timing of Stage 3 (dismantlement of reactors and site clearance).Stage 3: here, two operations have been considered—early decommissioning to follow immediately on Stage 2, completed within approximately 17 years after shutdown at a cost of £215 million; or deferment of reactor dismantlement for up to 100 years, at a cost of about £95 million.Costs for packaging and transporting waste are notionally included in the above. Costs of disposal as such are excluded.
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Licence No. 1 Licence No. 2 Licence No. 21 Licence No. 23 (a) MERLIN, Aldermaston JASON, Slough QMC, Stepney QMC, Newham (b) Associated Electrical Industries Ltd. Hawker Siddeley Nuclear Power Co. Ltd. Queen Mary College. Queen Mary College. (c) Low-powered research reactor. Low-powered research reactor. Low-powered research reactor. Low-powered research reactor. (d) Shutdown August 1962. Shutdown June 1961. Shutdown October 1966. Shutdown April 1982 (e), (f) & (g) Decommissioned 1962–63 and site returned to other uses. Licence surrendered December 1963. Reactor moved to Royal Naval College Greenwich. Site returned to other uses. Licence surrendered January 1962. Reactor moved to Newham (licence No. 23). Site returned to other uses. Licence surrendered March 1967. Decommissione 1982–83. Licence surrendered November 1983. Buildings now being converted for other uses.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list, for each year since 1979, the annual cost of research and development work on the decommissioning of nuclear power stations.
§ Mr. GoodladAnnual expenditure in the United Kingdom of research and development work on the decommissioning of nuclear power stations of all types is as follows:
£ million 1978–79 2.3 1979–80 2.4 1980–81 3.2 1981–82 7.1 1982–83 6.2 1983–84 6.0 1984–85 6.1
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list and describe the research and development work done on the decommissioning of nuclear power stations; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GoodladMuch of the research and development work on decommissioning of nuclear power stations in this country has been in connection with the Windscale AGR project, and I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 18 June at column73. This work is expected to have wider benefits for the decommissioning of nuclear power stations generally.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will estimate the approximate total cost of research and development work on magnox nuclear power stations; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GoodladResearch and development on magnox stations has at various stages been carried out by the UKAEA, the CEGB and BNFL. The AEA spent about £20 million up to the mid-1960's when its magnox programme ended. The CEGB has spent some £80 million over the past 20 years. BNFL has spent £68 million in connection with magnox fuel fabrication and reprocessing since 1979.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will publish a list showing for each licensed nuclear site containing a nuclear reactor that is no longer operational (a) the name of the site, (b) the name of the licence, (c) the type of nuclear reactor, (d) the date when it ceased to be operational, (e) the date when stage 1 decommissioning finished, or is planned to finish, (f) whether or not stage 3 decommissioning is planned, or has been completed and (g) if applicable, the date when stage 3 decommissioning finished, or is planned to finish.
§ Mr. GoodladThe information is as follows:
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§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Energy what information is available to his Department on the decommissioning of nuclear power stations in the United States; and if he will make a statement on American experience of decommissioning nuclear power stations.
§ Mr. GoodladDetails of nuclear power plant decommissioning in the United States of America have been published from time to time. Such details are freely available in this country and are believed to present a substantially complete picture of nuclear power plant decommissioning in the USA.
Experience of decommissioning in the USA is on a comparable scale to experience in the United Kingdom, although the reactor types involved are different. There is a useful interchange of information via the two main international agencies concerned with nuclear power, the Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD and the International Atomic Energy Agency of the UN. This interchange is supplemented by direct contacts when appropriate.
Various research and prototype power reactors have been decommissioned in the USA. These include Elk River (BWR: 50 MWt) the site of which was cleared in the mid-1970s; and Shippingport (PWR: 70 MWe) which was shut down in 1982. Decommissioning is planned to be completed in 1988, and will include the complete removal of the reactor and the clearance from the site of all ancillary equipment and buildings except where these are designated for modification and re-use.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will describe the nuclear site licences, and the conditions attached to such licences, granted to the Central Electricity Generating Board in respect of magnox power stations; and if he will place in the Library a copy of a representative licence for one of the older magnox power stations, with a copy of the conditions attached.
§ Mr. GoodladA nuclear site licence defines the site and describes the plant. Licence conditions relate to management of the site, the safety of the plant and the safety of workers. A typical set of licence conditions is reproduced in the booklet "The Work of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate" which is available in the
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(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) Name of power station Reactor Date reactor reached 20 years of operation Date of statutory shut-down next following 20 years of operation Date licensee completed long-term review Date of consent to start up after (c) Date NII completed work on long-term review Calder Hall 1 August 1976 January 1981 after 6 years shutdown Completed December 1982 December 1982, October 1984 March 1983 2 February 1977 February 1978 March 1983, March 1985 3 February 1978 July 1979 September 1982, August 1984 4 April 1979 April 1980 June 1983, May 1985 Chapelcross 1 January 1979 October 1979 Completed August 1983 March 1983 2 April 1980 April 1980 December 1982 July 1984 3 October 1979 May 1980 May 1983, May 1985 4 March 1980 July 1980 October 1984 Berkeley 1 June 1982 February 1984 Nearing Not yet 2 October 1982 March 1981 completion January 1984 Bradwell 1 July 1982 April 1983 Nearing December 1983 2 December 1982 August 1984 completion November 1984 Library of the House. A copy of the licence relating to Dungeness, which includes a representative magnox power station, is also being placed in the Library.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Energy what are the terms of the agreement made between Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate and the licensees of magnox nuclear power stations providing for a review of each station's safety features and performance after 20 years of operation; and if he will place copies of the agreement in the Library.
§ Mr. GoodladI am advised by the Health and Safety Commission that the arrangements for each long term review of magnox nuclear power stations are a matter for discussion between Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate and the licensee concerned and take into consideration the age and operational history of the station.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will list, for each magnox nuclear power station that has reached 20 years of operation (a) the name of the power station, (b) the date that each reactor reached 20 years of operation, (c) the date of the relevant statutory shutdown of each reactor after 20 years of operation, (d) the date the licensee completed its 20-year review of the station's safety features and performance, (e) the date following (c) above when consent was given by the Health and Safety Executive for each reactor to be started up again, and (f) the date following (d) above when Her Majesty's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate completed its work on the licensee's 20-year review.
§ Mr. GoodladThe Nuclear Installations Inspectorate make it a condition of nuclear power station licences that all stations must be shut down every two years for maintanance and inspection. The station is not permitted to start up again until the NII is satisfied, in the light of this exercise, that it is safe for it to do so. In addition, it is a policy of the inspectorate that licensees should carry out a general safety review after a station has been operating for about 20 years which will enable longer term safety issues to be addressed. This review is not associated with any particular station shut-down, but its findings will be taken into account in considering a station's longer terms operation. The information is:
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(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) Name of power station Reactor Date reactor reached 20 years of operation Date of statutory-shut-down next following 20 years of operation Date licensee completed long-term review Date of consent to start up after (c) Date Nil completed work on long-term review Hunterston A 1 February 1984 September 1984 Nearing December 1984 2 July 1984 May 1985 completion June 1985 Hinkley Point A 1 March 1985 In progress 2 May 1985 None yet Trawsfynvdd 1 March 1985 None yet In progress 2 May 1985
§ 41. Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will provide information on the thermal energy generated and spent fuel discharged by each of the Central Electricity Generating Board magnox reactors in the fiscal year 1984–85; and if he will update to 31 March the information on the allocation of plutonium produced in the Central Electricity Generating Board and South of Scotland Electricity Board magnox reactors given in reply to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy on 25 January, at columns 545–7.
§ Mr. Goodlad[pursuant to his reply, 4 July 1985, c. 198–9]: The following table sets out the allocation or use of plutonium produced in the magnox reactors of the SSEB and CEGB at 31 March 1985.
Allocation of plutonium produced in CEGB or SSEB Magnox reactors (position at 31 March 1985) Tonnes (nearest ½ tonne) Plutonium in irradiated fuel (a) Estimated in fuel in CEGB/SSEB Magnox reactors 9½ (b) Estimated plutonium in fuel discharged from CEGB/SSEB Magnox reactors, but not yet reprocessed 4 Separated plutonium (c) In stock at British Nuclear Fuels plc as oxide 21 (d) In process at British Nuclear Fuels plc in intermediate other forms (eg nitrate) ½ (e) Sold or leased to UKAEA for Fast Reactor R&D since 1969 5 (f) Exported for civil purposes to countries other than the US ½ Sub total 40½ (g) Balance (see note (g) below) Notes:
(a) These figures are derived from the known tonnage of fuel elements and their estimated overall average irradiation and cannot be accurately calculated.
(b) As for (a). About 25 per cent. of amount shown was held by BNFL.
(e) About 20 per cent. of amount shown was held by BNFL.
(g) The balance of plutonium produced in the boards magnox reactors was consigned to the United States before 1971 under the United States/ United Kingdom Defence Agreement, and as stated by the Prime Minister, on 21 April 1964, was used by United States for civil purposes. Because of the barter arrangements under which this plutonium was consigned, it would not be in the national interest to publish this figure.
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