§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish in theOfficial Report the letter of reply to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent of 23 July in response to the written question on hazardous waste control policies of his Department.
§ Mr. AitkenThe text of my reply of 23 July was as follows
I undertook to write to you in response to your recent Parliamentary question concerning our procedures for the minimisation and disposal of toxic and radioactive wastes.I should say at the outset that it is our overall policy to minimise or eliminate the use of toxic substances whenever this is practicable. Because discharges of such materials can occur at every stage of their manufacture, use and disposal the only method of reducing exposure to them is to restrict their use to essential applications or to phase them out altogether. Accordingly, special controls exist over the use of cadium, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's), asbestos, arsenic, triorganotins and pesticides. The controls reflect the requirements of domestic legislation or EC Directives or both. They are outlined in the Department's Environment Manual together with information on minimisation of use and phasing out. Additional guidance on the use of toxic materials and disposal routes is contained in regulations issued by the Directorate of Defence Health and Safety and, also Health and Safety Executive Guidance notes. Waste residues containing such substances are defined as special waste and are subject to disposal procedures regulated by the Control of 611W Pollution (Special Waste) Regulations 1988. It is our policy that special waste will only be disposed of at a properly licensed disposal facility and that the transport of special waste will follow strictly the prenotification, consignment note and recording requirements stipulated by the Regulations.The Department's policy is to dispose of radioactive waste through nationally available disposal routes wherever possible, in conjunction with Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution in England and Wales and Her Majesty's Industrial Pollution Inspectorate for Scotland. Very low and low level waste are transported in purpose built containers and by approved methods for disposal at an authorised site which, for low level waste, is the BNFL site at Drigg in Cumbria. There is at present no national disposal route for intermediate level wastes and MOD, like the civil nuclear operators in the United Kingdom, has to store such waste under secure controlled conditions at the site of origin, pending the availability of the deep depository planned by UK Nirex Ltd. to be in operation in 2005. The increasing costs associated with the available disposal routes is an additional incentive to minimise the amount of waste generated by our activities over and above the obvious health and safety and environmental considerations. Accordingly, radioactive waste minimisation is, and will remain, a key element in our operating procedures.I hope that this is helpful.