23 June 2010 : Column 249W
Radioactive Waste:
Waste Management
Zac
Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for
Energy and Climate Change how much has been spent on research and
development
for long-term nuclear waste management, site radiological remediation
and
facility decommissioning through (a) the
Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority, (b) NIREX, (c) the
Committee on Radioactive Waste
Management and (d) British Nuclear
Fuels Ltd in the last
10 years. [2343]
Charles
Hendry: The information is as follows:
(a) The
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
(NDA) is responsible for the decommissioning and clean-up of the UK's
civil
public sector nuclear sites and directly commissions research in support
of this
mission. Since it was set up in 2005, annual research and development (R
and D)
expenditure has been approximately:
|
|
Spend (£
million) |
|
2005-06 |
11 |
|
2006-07 |
13 |
|
2007-08 |
18 |
|
2008-09 |
11 |
|
2009-10 |
11 |
NDA
figures do not include indirect R and D expenditure
by NDA's contractors carried out in support of its mission across the
NDA's
estate. For example, that work carried out by the site licence companies
who
manage nuclear licensed sites on the NDA's behalf. Site license company
expenditure on R and D for 2008-09 is estimated to be in the order of
£90
million.
(b) Prior
to being incorporated into the
NDA on 31 March 2007, the role of United Kingdom Nirex Ltd was to
examine
aspects of long-term management and disposal of radioactive waste. Up
until that
point, Nirex's research and development expenditure over the last decade
had
been approximately:
|
|
Spend (£
million) |
|
1999-2000 |
5 |
|
2000-01 |
6 |
|
2001-02 |
8 |
|
2002-03 |
8 |
|
2003-04 |
7 |
|
2004-05 |
7 |
|
2005-06 |
7 |
|
2006-07 |
9 |
(c) CoRWM's
role was initially to advise
Government on the best options for the long-term management of higher
activity
radioactive waste and its remit now is to provide independent scrutiny
and
advice on the long-term management, including storage and disposal, of
radioactive waste. As such it does not undertake specific research and
development. Further information about the Committee, including costs,
is
available from its website at:
(d) British
Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) is a
private company owned by UK Government which previously operated a
number of
nuclear sites and businesses with operations in the UK and oversees. The
decommissioning
23 Jun 2010 : Column 250W
assets
and liabilities
previously owned by BNFL were transferred to the NDA with its creation
in 2005.
It sold its main American business, Westinghouse in 2006 for $5.4
billion, and
dismantled its UK clean-up subsidiary, British Nuclear Group, over the
period
2006-2009. BNFL has no remaining operational activities or businesses
but its
approximate research and development expenditure up until 2007 is set
out as
follows:
|
|
Spend (£
million) |
|
1999 |
81 |
|
2000 |
96 |
|
2001 |
92 |
|
2002 |
113 |
|
2003 |
109 |
|
2004 |
98 |
|
2005 |
92 |
|
2006 |
41 |
|
2007 |
7 |