§ Mr. Frank Cookasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the examination of the possible contribution of nuclear establishments in the United Kingdom to acid deposition is complete; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaldegraveAn assessment of the contribution of nuclear installations to acid deposition, undertaken by scientists at the environmental and medical sciences division of AERE Harwell, is now available.*
It confirms the preliminary scientific view that radioactive emissions from these installations make no contribution of any significance whatever to acid deposition. Amongst its conclusions, the report finds that:
- —the nitrogen oxides discharged from an individual nuclear power station in the United Kingdom are less than the average emissions from a single petrol-engined vehicle; and
- the total quantity of nitrogen oxides formed as a result of atmospheric emissions from all nuclear installations in the United Kingdom is about 20 millionths of the amounts discharged by conventional sources.
I have arranged for copies of the report to be placed in the Library.
* "The possible impact of atmospheric radioactive discharges from UK installations on acid deposition"
AERE R-12182 (March 1986).