HC Deb 21 February 1990 vol 167 cc778-9W
Mr. Malcolm Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what studies his Department has carried out to compare the costs of dry storage with the costs of reprocessing and ultimate disposal of spent fuel from(a) Magnox, (b) advanced gas-cooled reactors and (c) pressurised water reactors and nuclear power stations; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Baldry

My Department has carried out no such studies. However, in May 1988, my right hon. Friend the Member for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (Mr. Ridley), the then Secretary of State for the Environment, deposited in the Library of the House studies by the generating boards and by Ove Arup and Partners into the storage and disposal of spent Magnox fuel. The decision to reprocess spent fuel is taken by the owners of the fuel on safety, technical and economic grounds.