§ Mr. Frank Cookasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many waste disposal facilities in the United Kingdom are licensed by his Department to handle radioactive waste.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThere are 26 sites in England which are permitted to receive low-level radioactive waste for controlled burial as a result of authorisations issued by my Department under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960. My Department is not responsible for authorising disposals elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Frank Cookasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much low-level radioactive waste is disposed of each year at United Kingdom sites other than Drigg in Cumbria.
§ Mr. WaldegraveAuthorisations issued under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 require persons disposing of radioactive waste to keep records of the amounts disposed of. In the case of low-level solid wastes this information is not brought together centrally, and it would be disproportionately expensive to collect.
§ Mr. Frank Cookasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how radioactive wastes arising from the commercial operations of Amersham International are disposed of; and in what quantities.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe routes by which Amersham International plc is permitted to dispose of radioactive wastes, and information about the quantities disposed of, are given in additional tables on radioactivity of the Digest of Environmental Protection and Water Statistics (No. 6 1983), copies of which are in the Library. These cover the period 1977 to 1982 inclusive. Digest No. 7, covering 1983, will be published shortly and I shall arrange for copies to be similarly available.