(Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
(Lab/Co-op): What discussions he has had with the Secretary of
State for Defence on extending the provisions of the Energy Act
2004 to include recycling nuclear submarines.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy ()
Officials in my Department have had several discussions with
their counterparts in the Ministry of Defence on how the
expertise and resources of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
can best assist the submarine dismantling programme. However, we
do not believe that extending the provisions of the Energy Act
2004 would provide an appropriate addition to that support.
: I thank the Minister for
his reply, but it is disappointing that that is the first time a
Minister has said no to the cross-party request to extend the
civil clean-up of nuclear sites to include old nuclear
submarines, of which there are 13 in Devonport and six in Rosyth.
Will the Minister lend the same support as his predecessor did
and agree to meet the cross-party campaign? We have to find a way
to safely recycle the submarines.
: The disposal of
nuclear submarines is a complex and challenging undertaking that
I last discussed with the Minister for defence procurement, the
Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member
for Pudsey (), yesterday. As the hon.
Gentleman will know from the meeting he had earlier this year,
the Government have an established programme of work in place and
are committed to the safe, secure and cost-effective defuelling
and dismantling of all decommissioned nuclear submarines as soon
as practically possible. I am more than happy to meet the hon.
Gentleman to discuss the matter further.
