§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what plans he has to accept new evidence in his consideration of the planning inspector's report on the rock characterisation facility near Sellafield; [12398]
(2) when he expects to make a decision on the rock characterisation facility proposal at Sellafield; [12205]
(3) what (a) further information he will be seeking and (b) further consultation he will be conducting before making a decision on the proposed rock characterisation facility at Sellafield. [12204]
§ Mr. GummerThe planning inspector's report of the inquiry, which I received on 25 November, is currently being considered with a view to the decision being issued as soon as possible.
If anyone believes that new evidence has come to light which they feel is relevant and should be taken into account when the decision is made, they should submit it to me as soon as possible.
Requests that the inquiry should be reopened in the light of the information contained in the Nirex internal memorandum are still being considered.
§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) when Nirex(a) provided him with and (b) published its interpretation of the groundwater dataset for the proposed rock characterisation facility at Sellafield; [12201]
678W(2) by what date UK Nirex Ltd. undertook to make the baseline hydrological dataset relating to a nuclear depository at Sellafield available for independent peer review. [12211]
(3) what evaluation he has made of the "Baseline Conditions Review" report funded by Nirex. [12212]
§ Mr. GummerNirex report SA/96/006, "Rock Characterisation Facility, Longlands Farm, West Cumbria: Report on Baseline Groundwater Pressures and Hydrochemisttry", was published on 2 January 1997. At the same time, the company published a summary of the report, together with the conclusions of a peer review of the report by a group of independent experts, as Nirex report S/96/004, "Rock Characterisation Facility, Longlands Farm, West Cumbria: Report on Baseline Groundwater Pressures and Hydrochemistry, Summary Report".
A copy of report SA/96/006 was supplied to the environment agency on 6 December 1996 and a copy of report SA/96/004 on 23 December 1996. The agency will shortly be consulting publicly on the terms of an agreement, which it is minded to enter into the Nirex, setting out the basis on which the agency will assess and make public information provided by Nirex in advance of a formal application for authorisation to dispose of radioactive waste at whatever site is selected by Nirex.
Nirex's undertakings in respect of the timing of availability of this information are a matter for the company.
§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what representations he has received about Nirex' s two-dimensional model of the groundwater flow regime at Sellafield; [12200]
(2) when his Department received a three-dimensional model of the groundwater flow regime at Sellafield. [12199]
§ Mr. GummerBoth two-dimensional and three-dimensional models of the Sellafield potential repository zone are described in Nirex report S/95/012, "Nirex 95: A Preliminary Analysis of the Groundwater Pathway for a Deep Repository at Sellafield", which was published in July 1995.
Evidence about the modelling of groundwater flow was presented to, and discussed at, the public inquiry held into Nirex's appeal against refusal of planning permission for an underground laboratory at Sellafield. I am currently considering the inspector's report of the inquiry.
§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when Nirex gave notice to Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution that it would withdraw from the cost recovery programmes under which the HMIP assessment of Nirex proposals was funded. [12213]
§ Mr. GummerNirex gave the required six months' notice of termination on 10 March 1994. The environment agency will shortly be consulting publicly on the terms of a new agreement which it is minded to enter into with Nirex.
§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee has given him in respect of the rock characterisation facility planned by Nirex at Longlands farm near Sellafield. [12301]
679W
§ Mr. GummerAdvice was contained in the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee's report, "Review of aspects of the scientific mission and role of the Nirex Rock Characterisation Facility at Sellafield", which was published in September 1995. Copies were placed in the Library of the House.