ECONOMICS OF NUCLEAR REPROCESSING AND THE REVIEW OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

Early day motion 146, tabled 16 December 1998 by David Chaytor (Labour). Signed by 78 members.

That this House notes that British Nuclear Fuels has spent ú300 million of taxpayers' money on a nuclear reprocessing plant with no authorisation to commence operations; further notes that the British stockpile of plutonium now exceeds 50 tonnes and is predicted to double within the next 10 years; welcomes the Environment Agency's recent statement on the inadequacies of the Radioactive Substances Act 1993; further welcomes the conclusions of the Royal Society's report on the Management of Separated Plutonium; understands the implications of the recent decision of the new German government to stop the export of spent nuclear fuel to the United Kingdom; recognises that the latest evidence suggests that reprocessing spent nuclear fuel is twice as expensive as dry storage; understands that BNFL has no contracts for reprocessing beyond the existing baseload contracts; anticipates with great interest the forthcoming House of Lords' Select Committee report on Radioactive Waste Management; regrets that the absence of Freedom of Information legislation currently limits the extent of public debate about the economics of reprocessing; and therefore calls on the Government to ensure that the terms of reference of the forthcoming review of radioactive waste management policy specifically include an examination of the economic and environmental implications of nuclear reprocessing.

Signatures by party: Labour 59, Liberal Democrat 7, Labour/Co-operative 4, Plaid Cymru 2, UUP 2, DUP 1, Scottish National Party 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1, UKUP 1.