HC Deb 12 January 1999 vol 323 c187W
Ms Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will make a statement on the phrase, "historic levels", in paragraph 15 of the Sintra statement issued by the ministerial meeting of the OSPAR Commission; [65292]

(2) what proposals he has to reduce concentrations in the marine environment of man-made radioactive substances. [65293]

Mr. Meacher

To meet our obligation under the OSPAR radioactive substances strategy the UK must, by 2020, reduce discharges to levels which will add negligible amounts to historic concentrations of radioactive substances in the marine environment. The ultimate aim is concentrations of man-made radioactive substances close to zero.

My department and the regulatory authorities will be working closely with the nuclear operators who will be producing 20 year strategies for implementing these discharge reductions.

The term "historic levels" refers to concentrations of radioactive substances in the marine environment, resulting from past discharges into the sea, which have yet to decay naturally to zero.