To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the cost of disposing of nuclear waste resulting from nuclear power stations in Scotland. (100931)

The UK's civil radioactive waste legacy has been created over a period of decades as part of a UK programme, and no cost estimates are separately available on the costs associated with disposal of radioactive waste associated with Scottish power stations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the cost of disposing of nuclear waste resulting from (a) the UK's nuclear power stations and (b) the Ministry of Defence's nuclear weapons system and nuclear submarines. (100932)

The NDA estimates the total (undiscounted cost) of delivering its remit to decommission the UK's 20 civil public sector nuclear sites is £64.8 billion (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) accounts for 2005-06).

Government recently announced its intention to pursue a policy of geological disposal for radioactive waste, which will be undertaken on a staged basis with clear decision points. This will allow the Government to review progress and to assess costs, value for money and environmental impact before decisions are taken to move to the next stage. At this stage final disposal costs are not available as much work remains to be done on this.

The information above relates solely to civil radioactive waste. Questions relating to defence issues should be referred to the MOD.