HC Deb 22 June 1999 vol 333 c334W
Mr. Llew Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will place in the Library copies of the documents submitted(a) to and (b) by his Department in response to the recommendation by the Environment Agency that Government departments should be involved in considering the wider national and international matters arising from the proposal to operate the new MOX plutonium fuels plant at Sellafield. [87502]

Mr. Meacher

On 11 June, my right hon. Friends the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food announced the go-ahead for uranium commissioning and a further round of consultation into the economic case for the Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication plant at Sellafield. A final decision on the full operation of the MOX plant will not be made until after the consultation finishes on 23 July and all responses have been considered.

Once a final decision has been taken on the operation of the MOX plant, we will place it in the Library of the House:

  1. (a) all documents on the MOX plant submitted to my Department in response to our further consultation on the plant's economic case, except those which we have been specifically requested not to make public; and
  2. (b) all documents published by my Department as part of that final decision.