§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what research capacity is available to the Environment Agency to evaluate the transmutation capacity of MOX fuel fabrication. [1784]
§ Mr. MeacherPartitioning and transmutation of long lived radionuclides is under review internationally as a means of treating radioactive waste. A senior member of224W the Environment Agency is involved in a Nuclear Energy Agency working group which is assessing the potential of such techniques. The Department of the Environment is also maintaining a watching brief on international developments in this field.