To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if Her Majesty's Government have identified a safe long-term method of disposing permanently of nuclear waste.

The Government believe that safe disposal routes for radioactive wastes can be developed in the United Kingdom. The Government have accepted Nirex's recommendation that a repository for low and intermediate-level radioactive waste should be constructed in the form of a mine under the land and that further investigations should be undertaken to determine the suitability of Sellafield or Dounreay for construction of a repository. Heat-generating radioactive wastes will be stored for at least 50 years to allow them to cool before a final decision on disposal is taken.