HC Deb 22 March 1999 vol 328 cc12-3W
22. Mr. Salter

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the announcement by the Environment Agency that plutonium deposits are being washed from the Pangbourne pipeline at AWE Aldermaston into the River Thames. [76051]

Mr. Spellar

All discharges from AWE through the Pangbourne pipeline are authorised by the Environment Agency. Scaling may occur when water passes down any pipeline. The potential for subsequent descaling is taken into account in the management of discharges which remain at 10–15 per cent. of the currently authorised limits. Details of these discharges are made available to the public through AWE' s Environment, Safety and Health reports which are published annually and distributed widely including regulatory and Local Authorities.

Mr. Salter

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on safety at AWE Aldermaston. [76019]

Mr. Spellar

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell) on 18 March 1999,Official Report, columns 801–02.