§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list his responsibilities in relation to the list of possible nuclear dump sites submitted to him by NIREX on 8 January; whether he intends to submit that list as it stood on 8 January to Parliament or to make changes to it; and whether he will initiate a process of consultation and reconsideration so that relevant factors such as development problems, population, transport and the views of local communities are taken into account before geological exploration begins;
(2) further to his reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby on Tuesday 11 February, Official Report, column 403, if he will set out the process of consideration to be given to the list of proposed nuclear dumps sites and state in what ways this process has changed from his previously announced plans.
(3) at what stage in the process of planning nuclear dumps the effect on local industries and local development needs will be taken into account;
337W(4) at what stage in the process of planning nuclear dumps considerations of planning blight will be taken into account;
(5) at what stage in the process of planning nuclear dumps population factors will be taken into consideration;
(6) at what stage in the process of planning nuclear dumps transport considerations will be taken into account;
(7) whether, in his consideration of possible sites for nuclear dumps, he will consider sites not already owned by Government Departments or NIREX partners; and at what stage in the planning process such sites are to be evaluated against owned sites;
(8) further to his reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby, on 11 February, Official Report, column 403, whether he intends to make any changes, additions or deletions to the list of possible sites for nuclear dumps submitted to him by the chairman of NIREX on 8 January;
(9) further to his reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby on 11 February, Official Report, column 403, whether he will now consider additions to and deletions from the list of possible sites for nuclear dumps submitted to him by NIREX on 8 January; what factors he will take into account in such consideration; what opportunities will be given to local authorities in the process; and if he will make a statement;
(10) further to his answer to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby on 11 February, Official Report, column 403, whether he will now consider suggested lists for possible nuclear sites from other private and public organisations besides NIREX; why NIREX is considered competent to take account of planning, population, transport, water supply and development needs of the ones concerned; how its relationship with other partners is evaluated when consideration is given to sites owned by those partners; and if he will make a statement;
(11) further to his reply of 11 February, Official Report, column 403, to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby, whether having considered the NIREX lists he will now initiate an official inquiry to draw up a list of possible sites for geological exploration, taking into account the relevant factors, including land development needs and public opinion.
§ Mr. WaldegraveNIREX, before it put forward its proposals on 8 January, considered a wide range of sites in public and private ownership and took into account questions of safety, planning and technical feasibility.
My right hon. Friend, who is responsible, together with my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and for Wales, for policy on the management of civil radioactive waste, has been looking at these proposals to ensure that they were the most appropriate way of carrying forward declared national policy.
My right hon. Friend expects to make an announcement about possible sites for investigation next week. This will be accompanied by the publication of a draft of the special development order to be put to Parliament for approval, to give NIREX the planning permission it needs to investigate geologically the sites proposed. It will be open to local authorities and anyone else with an interest to comment upon what is proposed.
Detailed geological information will be an important input to any subsequent decision by NIREX to make a planning application in respect to a particular site. In doing so, it will have to prepare a detailed environmental assessment of the impact of the facility on the areas 338W concerned, including the effect on local development. This will be considered at the public inquiry the Government has already said will be held into any proposals from NIREX for development.