HC Deb 23 January 1997 vol 288 cc723-4W
Mr. Dalyell

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, further to his letter of 13 May 1996, if he will list the projects(a) round the Kola peninsula, (b) in the Russian far east and (c) in relation to the Lepse in Murmansk harbour in which the EC and the United Kingdom are taking part; and what progress has been made. [10828]

Dr. Liam Fox

The latest available project list—September 1996—records a total of 15 projects concerning radioactive waste management in Russia in which the EU is involved. These are as follows:

  1. (1) Basis for diagnostics and forecasts on the state of nuclear waste at the bottom of the Barents Sea and the Sea of Japan.
  2. (2) Conceptual design of a radwaste repository for the Kola region.
  3. (3) Suitability of Krasnoyarsk rock formations for plutonium-containing waste disposal.
  4. (4) Measurements, modelling and possible consequences of deep well injection sites at Dimitrovograd.
  5. (5) Sorting of waste at the Smolensk and Kalinin nuclear power plants.
    6. 724
  6. (6) Solidification facility for radioactive waste at the Leningrad nuclear power plant.
  7. (7) Analysis of safety and environmental impact of the storage facility for VVER-1000 spent fuel (Krasnoyarsk).
  8. (8) Improvement of incineration facility at Kola.
  9. (9) Feasibility study for St. Petersburg Waste Management Centre.
  10. (10) Civil plutonium storage facility at Mayak.
  11. (11) Support for the Moscow Radwaste Specialized Enterprise "RADON".
  12. (12) Identification of disposal sites in the North-West region.
  13. (13) Engineering assessment of "Lepse".
  14. (14) Evaluation of the radiological situation around nuclear reactors holding spent fuel, dumped in the Kara Sea.
  15. (15) Analysis of the medium and long term environmental and radiological consequences of the migration of radionuclides from the Karachay lake. Identification of countermeasures.

UK companies are involved in six of these projects, shown above as items 4, 6, 9, 13, 14 and 15. Progress on these projects is as follows: Measurements, modelling and possible consequences at deep well injection sites at Dimitrovograd—the project has been completed. Solidification facility for radioactive waste at the Leningrad nuclear power plant—The project is currently in the tender phase. Feasibility study for St. Petersburg Waste Management Centre—A recently launched project to upgrade the facility for the storage and treatment of radioactive wastes at Sosnovy Bor. A study is under way. Engineering assessment of "Lepse"—The Feasibility Study on the removal of nuclear waste from the ship has been completed. An advisory committee has been established, and is now examining the study's recommendations. Evaluation of the radiological situation around nuclear reactors holding spent fuel, dumped in the Kara sea—The study was initiated in January 1996, and is expected to be completed as scheduled by May this year. Analysis of the medium-and long-term environmental and radiological consequences of the migration of radionuclides from the Karachay lake. Identification of countermeasures—the first of four project phases—has been completed. This involved the translation, analysis and collation of currently available data in respect of the regional climate, geology, hydrogeology and groundwater geochemistry of the area concerned.

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