§ Mr. Gwilym JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if the studies recommended by the Select Committee on the Environment on dry storage and direct disposal of spent Magnox fuel have been completed.
§ Mr. MoynihanThe reports and an independent review have today been deposited in the Library of the House of Commons and with the British Library. Copies have been sent to members of the Environment Committee and to other interested organisations.
The reports and the review confirm that a change to a strategy of long-term storage and direct disposal of spent Magnox fuel would not give rise to significant reductions in radiation exposures to the public or to the work force in the nuclear industry, and uncertainties would remain about the suitability of the chemically reactive fuel for direct disposal. At this late stage in the life of Magnox power stations the extra costs which would be entailed cannot, therefore, be justified. A continuation of fuel reprocessing to the end of the Magnox programme remains prudent policy.
Discharges of radioactivity from fuel reprocessing at Sellafield have been considerably reduced; they are now only one tenth of the level in 1978. Further reductions are planned from about 1991 when the enhanced actinide removal plant (EARP) becomes operational. This should enable discharges to alpha emitters to be reduced further.
The length of time for which the Magnox programme continues will depend on financial considerations, the reviews of safety of the reactors and the fuel reprocessing plant, waste management and energy strategy considerations.