§ Mrs. MahonTo ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the outcome of last year's conference of North sea states; what is his policy on(a) a ban on dumping of nuclear waste at sea and (b) a declaration to reduce output of pollutants blamed for blooms of toxic marine algae.
§ The Prime MinisterWe made it clear at last year's North sea conference that we have no plans for disposing516W of radioactive waste from ships or seabed artificial structures into or beneath the seabed. We have always followed the recommendations of the competent international organisations on the dumping of waste and agree that this disposal option is not suitable for the North sea. Nevertheless we have not completely ruled out sea disposal for large items such as boilers from decommissioned power stations and are keeping under review whether this disposal option may be required at some further date.
Algal bloom, including toxic marine algae, occurs naturally in the marine environment, but, in slow-moving shallow water areas with a high proportion of freshwater from rivers, nutrients from agriculture and sewage discharges can be a determining factor. In the North sea these conditions occur along the eastern coastal seaboard particularly in the Wadden sea and Skaggerak. Given the circulation pattern of the North sea, discharges of nutrients from the United Kingdom do not contribute to this problem.