§ Mr. AingerTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (I) what volume, in cubic metres, of intermediate level radioactive waste will remain in the United Kingdom under return of waste agreements between British Nuclear Fuels plc and overseas customers(a) in absolute terms and (h) as a proportion of the waste imported;
(2) what volume, in cubic metres, of low level radioactive wastes will remain in the United Kingdom under return of waste agreements between British Nuclear Fuels plc and overseas customers (a) in absolute terms and (b) as a proportion of the waste imported.
§ Mr. Eggar[holding answer 23 June 1993]: Since 1976. BNFL's contracts for the reprocessing of overseas spent fuel have contained options for the return of wastes. Under these agreements, the company has the right to return all three types of waste—high, intermediate and low-level—to the country of origin. The possible substitution for low and intermediate-level waste of a radiologically equivalent amount of high-level waste, in addition to the customer's normal HLW allocation, was referred to in my reply to the hon. Member of 7 June 1993, Official Report, column 161.