§ Ms. RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the environmental effects of the production, use, storage and ultimate disposal of nuclear fuels for the United Kingdom's naval forces.
§ Mr. Sainsbury[holding answer 13 July 1989]: The environmental effects of the production, use, storage and ultimate disposal of nuclear fuels for the United Kingdom's naval forces are negligible. Radioactive discharges to the environment that lie within United Kingdom jurisdiction, whether made by contractors associated with the programme or by the Royal Navy itself, comply with authorisations from, or agreements with, the Department of the Environment or the Scottish Development Department. These authorisations and agreements are set so that discharges within the limits they permit have no detrimental effect on any human beings. Radioactive discharges made by nuclear submarines on the high seas are governed by naval regulations that have the same effect.