§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many of the intermediate-level radioactive waste streams at Sellafield 359W arising from the reprocessing of foreign spent nuclear fuel have been specified in such a way to make them acceptable for return to country of origin under the framework agreements made by Her Majesty's Government with foreign Governments.
§ Mr. EggarI have been asked to reply.
It is not technically possible in the reprocessing operation to identify the precise wastes which arise from processing specific items of fuel. In such cases, it is necessary to apportion wastes among the customers concerned. Furthermore, there are some waste streams for which the precise form of conditioning for interim storage prior to disposal has not been finalised. It has not been possible to issue specifications for these streams, which amount to about 2 per cent. by radioactivity of the total.
British Nuclear Fuels plc has advised me that the thermal oxide reprocessing plant contracts which provide for return of waste specify that unspecified intermediate level waste—ILW—will be replaced by a radiologically equivalent amount of specified ILW. This will apply to some 40 per cent. by activity of returnable ILW from THORP.
The specifications which BNFL has issued to its overseas THORP customers are presently being approved by those customers and their relevant authorities. Approvals covering the majority of the overseas business have already been received.
The Government are considering BNFL's proposals to implement return of low and intermediate-level waste by substituting a radiologically equivalent amount of high-level waste—HLW—in addition to the customer's normal HLW allocation.