To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what permission is required for British Nuclear Group Sellafield Ltd and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to send radioactively contaminated metals from decommissioning facilities at Sellafield to the Studsvik decontamination plant in Sweden. (136343)

The import and export of radioactive waste is subject to a system of control and prior authorisation under Council Directive 92/3/Euratom and the Transfrontier Shipment of Radioactive Waste Regulations 1993. The Environment Agency is the competent authority that issues such authorisations to export radioactive waste from, and import it into, England and Wales.

The proposed shipments of contaminated metal from Sellafield, for recycling in Sweden, are in line with the Government’s policy for the long-term management of low-level radioactive waste, announced on 26 March this year. The radioactive products of overseas treatment of radioactive waste are generally returned to the UK, with the metal being recycled in the country where the smelting process is carried out.