§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what discussions he has had with the water and district authorities in those areas where the four proposed nuclear waste sites are located;
(2) what recent consultations he has had with representatives of local bodies in the areas currently being investigated as potential nuclear waste disposal sites;
(3) whether he has now held consultations with the local government authorities covering the four disposal sites suggested by NIREX.
§ Mrs. RumboldAll county and district authorities, and the water authority, within whose areas a site falls, have been consulted on the draft of the special development order intended to authorise site investigations. Other bodies were also consulted. My right hon. and hon. Friends and I have also met affected local authorities and protest groups. Further meetings are planned.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what the cost is to Her Majesty's Government of carrying out exploratory work on the potential nuclear waste sites.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe direct cost of carrying out exploratory work will be met by NIREX. My Department will be commissioning independent analysis of the results of the explorations. This is likely to cost approximately £1 million over the next year. It is too soon to estimate the cost of assessments beyond that.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation to provide for the creation of local liaison committee including county council representatives at some stage during the selection of nuclear waste disposal sites; and if he will make a statement.
292Wcase whether authorisation has been granted, refused or is still pending; and if he will list separately for each approved case, and for each refused or as yet unauthorised case, the tonnage per year to be mined and the time period requested or authorised.
§ Mr. AncramThe information requested is as follows:
§ Mrs. RumboldWe have no proposals for such legislation. As we have said in our first stage response to the Environment Committee's report on radioactive waste, the Government would encourage NIREX, local authorities and other representative groups concerned to discuss the form and role of such a committee once a particular site has been chosen for development.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to which local or water authorities monitor the effects of low-level radioactive waste in their areas.
§ Mrs. RumboldIn England, monitoring of the environmental effects of authorised disposals of low level radioactive waste is undertaken by the Department of the Environment and by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Water authorities take samples of drinking water from their own sources and these samples are sent for analysis on behalf of my Department's radiochemical inspectorate. Further environmental monitoring in the vicinity of authorised disposal sites is carried out as appropriate, either by or on behalf of the inspectorate.
Local and water authorities are, of course, free to undertake their own monitoring programmes and to retain the results.
§ Mr. Lyellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what volume of radioactive nuclear waste, differentiating between low level waste and intermediate level waste, arising prior to the year 2030 will arise from the decommissioning of power stations.
§ Mrs. RumboldThe amount of radioactive waste produced to 2030 from the decommissioning of nuclear power plants is expected to be about 101,000 tonnes, practically all of which will be low level waste. Figures in terms of volume are not yet available. Further details are given in research report number DOE/RW/85–124.