§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what liabilities exist, what contractual arrangements exist to express those liabilities, in respect of Government programmes carried out prior to April 1971 on sites now in the ownership of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. or the Atomic Energy Authority; which agencies of Government took part in settling those contractual arrangements; and on what dates such arrangements were concluded.
§ Mr. Charles WardleIn correspondence between the Secretary of State for Energy and the chairman of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority in 1986 the Government confirmed that they were prepared to continue to accept responsibility in principle for the costs which the UKAEA incurred in treating and disposing of nuclear wastes and in decommissioning plant arising from programmes carried out by the UKAEA and its predecessors prior to 1 April 1986.
In correspondence between the Secretary of State for Energy and the Chairman of BNFL in 1983 and 1988 the Government agreed in principle to accept responsibility for the costs which BNFL incurred in treating and disposing of nuclear wastes and in decommissioning plant, arising from programmes carried out prior to 1 April 1971, to the extent that Government Departments were responsible for those programmes.
All of the work for which DTI has accepted financial responsibility, including that on BNFL sites, is funded by means of a conditional grant from DTI to the UKAEA and therefore is not subject to contractual arrangements between DTI and the UKAEA.
The UKAEA has estimated that the total value of waste management and decommissioning liabilities for which DTI has accepted financial responsibility is £8 billion, within a range of £6 to £12 billion, undiscounted at present price levels. These figures include liabilities for which DTI has accepted financial responsibility that have arisen from programmes carried out by the UKAEA or BNFL on behalf of DEn/DTI since 1986 and 1971 respectively. £1 billion of this estimate relates to waste management and decommissioning at BNFL sites.
The Ministry of Defence has also accepted responsibility in principle for some liabilities in respect of Government programmes carried out prior to April 1971 on sites now in the ownership of BNFL and the UKAEA.
The principal Government Departments which took part in settling these arrangements were the Department of Energy, the Treasury and the Ministry of Defence.