§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the health detriment in terms of fatal and non-fatal cancers and genetic effects to the population of the United Kingdom, Europe and the world would result for each year of discharge from BNFL's Sellafield installation if (i) the draft HMIP authorisations were approved, (ii) technologies were introduced to remove krypton for the gaseous discharges from Sellafield and (iii) dry storage was selected as an option rather than reprocessing.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will conduct a comparative study of the estimated health detriment, in terms of fatal and non-fatal cancers and genetic effects, to the population of the United Kingdom, Europe and the world that would result from each year of discharge from BNFL's Sellafield installation with the health detriment arising from the nuclear reprocessing plant at Cap de la Hague, France.
§ Mr. YeoI have been asked to reply.
Assessments of the radiological impact of discharges from Sellafield and Cap de la Hague have been published by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. The 1993 report shows that discharges from the two plants have been similar through the late 1980s. As the Cap de la Hague plant differs from Sellafield in size, process and type of fuel reprocessed, a comparative study would be of no help.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what facts she has taken into account in deciding the extent to which the health detriment that may arise as a result of the proposed discharges from BNFL's Sellafield installation would be acceptable.
§ Mr. YeoI have been asked to reply.
The basic objectives set out in the White Paper "Radioactive Waste Management" Cmnd 8607 are such as to protect individual health and the environment. The use of the target for exposure from one site of 0.5 mSv coupled with a constraint of 0.3 mSv for any new plant will ensure these basic principles are met as they are for the proposed revised authorisation for BNFL Sellafield.