§ Ms Roseanna CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what action she will take to ensure that all missing highly enriched uranium on the Dounreay site is identified and retrieved or made safe; and if she will make a statement. [48930]
§ Mr. Battle[holding answer 6 July 1998]: The UKAEA's document 'The Dounreay Shaft Inventory' identified an amount of 170kg of uranium as "material unaccounted for" (MUF). As explained on 27 July 1998, Official Report, columns 46–47, it is wrong to suggest that this figure must correspond to an amount of material that is physically missing. We have asked the DTI's Safeguards Office to study the nuclear material accountancy issues raised by the UKAEA document. We shall make public the conclusions of that study.
§ Ms Roseanna CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade on what date she was first notified of the application to dispose of radioactive material from the Brent Spar at Dounreay. [50877]
§ Mr. Battle[holding answer 20 July 1998]: I do not receive applications for disposal of radioactive material. This is a matter for the independent regulator, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).
§ Ms Roseanna CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list all applications or agreements made since May 1997 for(a) disposal and (b) storage of radioactive material at Dounreay; and if she will indicate (i) the source and (ii) the amount of waste in each case. [50876]
§ Mr. Battle[holding answer 20 July 1998]: I do not receive applications for disposal and storage of radioactive material. These are matters, initially, for the independent regulators, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate of the Health & Safety Executive.
§ Ms Roseanna CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make a statement on the facilities which are available at Dounreay for the storage of treated radioactive material from the Brent Spar; and if additional storage pits will be required for the treated material. [50879]
§ Mr. Battle[holding answer 20 July 1998]: This is an operational matter for UKAEA. I have therefore written to the Chairman of the UKAEA requesting him to prepare this information, and his reply will be placed in the Library of the House.
§ Ms Roseanna CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps she has taken to satisfy herself that Dounreay is a suitable site for the disposal and storage of radioactive materials from the Brent Spar. [50878]
§ Mr. Battle[holding answer 20 July 1998]: Storage and disposal of radioactive material at Dounreay is subject to independent regulation by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).
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