§ Mr. Frank Cookasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the capital expenditure for each of the facilities proposed for the disposal of low and intermediate level wastes, by shallow burial, engineered trench disposal and deep cavity disposal, in terms of gross capital expenditure for construction and yearly costs for operation, maintenance and servicing, staff and transport costs.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI understand from NIREX that the likely capital costs of waste disposal plus the first 10 years of operation expressed in pounds at 1985 prices will be:
- (a) Engineered trench burial for low level waste and short lived intermediate level waste: £100 million approx
- (b) Deep cavity disposal for longlived intermediate level waste: £200 million approx
Actual costs will depend partly on the type of rock at the disposal site.
§ Mr. Frank Cookasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the total costs related to the disposal of unit volume of waste, for each of the waste types, showing the costs per cubic metre of very low level, low level, low activity intermediate level and high activity intermediate level radioactive wastes.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI understand from NIREX that the estimated costs of waste disposal expressed as £ per annum per cubic metre at 1985 prices will be as follows, but detailed design studies have not been carried out.
Type of Waste Transport by Road Transport by Rail Disposal Low level 50 170 350 Short lived intermediate level 360 660 1,800 at least Long lived intermediate level 840 1,300 2,000
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the non-nuclear industrial sites in England making authorised discharges of uranium and other radio-active materials to the sea.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerThe non-nuclear industrial sites in England which are authorised to discharge radioactive wastes to sea are listed below.
272W
Name Location Albright and Wilson Limited Marchon Works, Whitehaven, Cumbria British Petroleum Chemicals Limited Salt End, Hull, Humberside
Name Location British Titan Products (Tioxide) Limited Grimsby, Humberside Beeching Group plc Worthing, West Sussex Central Electricity Generating Board Eggborough Power Station, Goole, North Yorkshire Glaxochem Limited Ulverston, Cumbria Imperial Chemical Industries plc Billingham, Cleveland Imperial Chemical Industries plc Severnside Works, Hallen, Bristol Norsk Hydro Fertilizers Limited West Site Tank Farm, Avonmouth, Bristol Pfizer Limited Sandwich, Kent S C M Chemicals Limited Stallinborough, Grimsby, Humberside
§ Dr. Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will review the current discharge authorisations from British Nuclear Fuels Ltd., Sellafield, to the Irish sea; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerAs my right hon. Friend the Member for Woodford and Wanstead (Mr. Jenkin) informed the hon. Member on 18 December 1984 at columns 93–94, formal proposals to replace the existing liquid discharge authorisation for BNFL, Sellafield, are currently being prepared by the radiochemical inspectorate of my Department, jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
It is now intended that, following the consultations which my right hon. Friend promised, the new liquid discharge authorisation should come into force on 1 July 1986.