§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps were taken to publicise the second consultation period on the thermal oxide reprocessing plant; how many sets of consultation documents were distributed and to whom; what criteria were adopted in deciding the scope of distribution of relevant documents; how many responses were received; and if she will give a breakdown of those(a) in favour of and (b) opposed to the opening of THORP, based on the responses.
§ Mr. JackThe second consultation in connection with British Nuclear Fuels plc's application for authorisations for Sellafield, including THORP, was publicised by a public notice in the national press and in local newspapers within the Sellafield area. Some 250 sets of the consultation documents were issued to those local authorities, public bodies, environmental and other interest groups who were previously consulted by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. In excess of 40,000 responses have been received and these are still being assessed. More detailed figures will be made available once all the responses have been considered.