§ Mrs. Ray MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what research has been done into the feasibility of building dry store facilities for nuclear waste at each of the locations where the waste is produced.
§ Mr. Moynihan[holding answer 14 June 1988]: Following the recommendations in March 1986 of the House of Commons Select Committee on the Environment, the generating boards (CEGB and SSEB) each conducted a full analysis of the arrangements for storing and disposing of spent nuclear fuel from their Magnox power stations. The Department of the Environment then commissioned an independent review of the two reports by a firm of consulting engineers.
The reports and the review confirmed that reprocessing of spent Magnox fuel remains preferable to direct disposal and that the building of dry stores at the respective power stations would not be justified at this late stage in their lives. Copies of the reports are in the Library of the House.