§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what quantities of spent nuclear fuel, from which(a) countries and (b) utilities, is stockpiled at Sellafield awaiting reprocessing; and what information she has received from British Nuclear Fuels in regard to when it will be reprocessed. [25062]
§ Mr. BattleThe Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp) has a total of 7,000 tonnes of fuel to be reprocessed during the Baseload (first ten year) period. I understand that, as at end of 1996–97, there were over 6,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel awaiting reprocessing at Thorp and approximately 550 tonnes of spent magnox fuel, awaiting reprocessing at the magnox reprocessing plant. This fuel is owned by utilities in the United Kingdom and in overseas countries, including Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. Decisions relating to the timing of reprocessing of the contracted quantities of spent nuclear fuel owned by individual utilities are an operational matter for BNFL.