§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will estimate the quantities of(a) low, (b) intermediate and (c) high level radioactive waste which will arise from the reprocessing of Swiss irradiated oxide nuclear fuel at Sellafield; what negotiations have been held to date with Swiss authorities concerning the repatriation of the waste; and if Switzerland has indicated whether it would accept its waste to be returned following the application of substitution. [67708]
§ Mr. BattleBNFL has signed contracts with all four Swiss utilities for the reprocessing of a total of 422 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel. Under the terms of those contracts BNFL has had discussions with each company on the return of wastes, including substitution. I understand that, although Switzerland is still pursuing the development of deep waste disposal facilities, it has almost completed an 315W interim storage facility capable of accepting the wastes returned under the terms of the above mentioned contracts, whether as a result of substitution or not.