§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2002,Official Report, column 566W, what records the Department has of (a) the total number of containers, (b) the weight of waste contained within the containers and (c) the proportion of (i) high level, (ii) intermediate level and (iii) low level radioactive waste in each of the 10 North Atlantic disposal sites used by the UK between 1949 and 1982. [35266]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 11 February 2002]: The Inventory of Radioactive Waste Disposals at Sea published in 1999 by the International Atomic Energy Authority includes details, provided by the UK, of the weight and activity of the radioactive material disposed of by the UK in each of the sites in the North Atlantic. The total weight and amount of activity dumped at each disposal site are set out in the table. It should be noted that the great majority of this weight (usually around 90 per cent.) was accounted for by packaging.
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Disposal site centred on co-ordinates Latitude Longitude Total weight (tonnes) Total activity (GBq) 48 30'N 13 00'W 9 37.0 55 20'N 11 20'W 33 222.0 55 08'N 12 10'W 57 148.0 32 37'N 14 05'W 1,453 1,665.0 32 42'N 19 30'W 7,098 131,191.0 32 38'N 20 05'W 4,360 81,141.0 46 27'N 6 10'W 253 6,660.0 45 27'N 6 16'W 5,809 275,243.0 45 27'N 6 36'W 4,392 574,758.0 48 20'N 13 16'W 7,641 4,170,381.0 42 50'N 14 30'W 722 65,601.0 49 05'N 17 05'W 1,878 665,260.0 46 15'N 17 25'W 9,647 8,855,475.0 46 00'N 16 45'W 14,141 20,191,963.0 Around 150,000 packages of radioactive waste were disposed of by the UK in the North East Atlantic between 1949 and 1982. A breakdown of the number of containers dumped at each disposal site is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I am not aware that any high level radioactive waste was disposed of by the UK in the North Atlantic. The inventory includes details of the actual amount of activity disposed of at each site (as set out in the table), rather than the proportion of the waste which was categorised as low level or intermediate level. This information is not readily available and an estimate could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2002,Official Report, column 566W, which of the 10 radioactive waste disposal sites in the North Atlantic contains high level radioactive waste by (a) number of containers and (b) weight. [35267]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 11 February 2002]: I am not aware that any high level radioactive waste was disposed of by the UK in the North Atlantic. The "Report of the Independent Review of Disposal of Radioactive Waste in the Northeast Atlantic" (HMSO 1984) includes details of the activity of the waste disposed of by the UK, and explains that the disposals carried out between 1949 and 1982 involved low and intermediate level waste. Copies of the report are available in the Library of the House.
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2002,Official Report, column 748W, what efforts (a) have been, (b) are being and (c) will be made to monitor the state and safety of the 10 radioactive waste disposal sites in the North Atlantic used by the UK (i) through the UK's own efforts, (ii) through the OECD, (iii) through OSPAR and (iv) by other authority or means. [35265]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 11 February 2002]: The radiological impact of the North Atlantic disposal sites was assessed under the OECD's Co-ordinated Research and Environmental Surveillance Programme (CRESP). The UK played an active part in this programme which ran from 1980 to 1995 and included 930W direct monitoring of the main North Atlantic disposal site, which was used up until 1982. The UK has not been involved in any direct monitoring of the Atlantic disposal sites since that time and we have no plans to do so. With regard to the results obtained under CRESP and the coastal monitoring carried out by the UK, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 6 February 2002, Official Report, columns 974W. No direct monitoring of the disposal sites has been carried out through OSPAR.
It should be noted that the drums used in the North Atlantic disposal operations were designed to reach the floor of the deep ocean intact but in the knowledge that the radioactivity would leak out over a period of years and be dispersed into the sea, by which time the radioactivity would have been somewhat reduced by natural decay. Assessments of the radiological impact of the disposals undertaken by CRESP and others have taken full account of this.