Dounreay (Hansard, 26 October 1992)

§ Mr. Llew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has regarding radioactive leakage from the corroded low-level nuclear waste drums at pits numbers three and four at the nuclear power development establishment at Dounreay.

§ Sir Hector Monro
Routine site monitoring carried out in the vicinity of tips three and four has confirmed that the drums stored above these filled tips have not resulted in any increased levels of radioactivity either in the atmosphere or in the ground water pumped from the pits.

§ Mr. Llew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what report he has received from AEA Technology or Her Majesty's nuclear installations inspectorate on the environmental pollution consequences of the fire at the intermediate-level waste silo at Dounreay in July.

§ Sir Hector Monro
My Department was informed by AEA Technology on 22 July 1992 that a small fire had taken place in the intermediate level waste silo at Dounreay on the evening of 21 July 1992 and that some smoke had been released to the atmosphere. Radioactive material was not released and there were therefore no environmental consequences.

§ Mr. Llew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has on the cost of decommissioning all of the radioactivity-contaminated buildings at AEA Technology's Dounreay nuclear plant; and what level of funding his Department will provide for the decommissioning work.

§ Mr. Eggar
I have been asked to reply.
I am replying in view of my responsibility for matters relating to AEA Technology.
The current estimate of the cost of decommissioning the nuclear facilities at Dounreay and dealing with the 525W associated wastes is around£1.2 billion (in 1992 prices and in undiscounted terms). As most of the expenditure lies well in the future, actual costs will remain very uncertain until nearer the time when individual projects are developed and costed in detail.
My Department will meet the costs of all decommissioning and waste management liabilities arising from work done at the site before AEA Technology was established as a trading fund in 1986. It will also meet the costs of all such liabilities arising from its own programmes (and those of the former Department of Energy) since 1986.