§ Lord Juddasked Her Majesty's Government:
What advice they have received from the Royal Society on the management of existing radioactive 14WA waste from nuclear power stations and military activities; what is this response; and whether existing arrangements are adequate. [HL4776]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)The Royal Society responded on 12 March to the consultation paperManaging radioactive waste safety published last September by the Government and the devolved administrations. A copy of this response has been placed in the Library of the House.
Our paper said that we must decide how we are going to manage up to 500,000 tonnes of solid radioactive waste over the next several thousand years and it proposed a programme of action for reaching that decision. We are now evaluating the outcome of the consultation. We shall shortly publish a summary of responses and announce what we plan to do next.