§ Mrs. LawrenceTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will publish the Government consultation document on the storage of nuclear waste.[6363]
§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what progress she has made towards developing long-term disposal of high level nuclear waste referred to in the Nirex document, Managing Radioactive Waste;[6731]
(2) when she expects the long-term disposal review of intermediate level nuclear waste, referred to in the Nirex document Managing Radioactive Waste, to be concluded; and if she will make a statement. [6736]
§ Mr. MeacherThe UK Government and Devolved Administrations published the consultation paper "Managing radioactive waste safely" on 12 September. People in the UK must have a central role in the decision on how radioactive waste is managed in the future. The paper proposes a programme of national debate and information gathering leading to decisions on the long-term management of radioactive waste, and explores how best we should organise that programme. It does not invite comments at this stage on specific options—such as storage or disposal—but it does summarise the main options, so people can always comment on them if they want to.