§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress he has made with the reduction of discharges of radioactive waste from the BNFL base at Sellafield to near zero by the year 2020; and how this target will be achieved. [68853]
§ Mr. MealeThe Government are fully committed to the agreement reached at the OSPAR Ministerial Meeting in Sintra, Portugal last year, on the reduction of radioactive discharges from all sources, including reprocessing plants. Nuclear operators, in discussion with the relevant Government departments and regulatory bodies, will produce 20-year discharge strategies, to assess the options for reducing discharges to levels consistent with the OSPAR strategy. We intend this to be fully transparent process.