Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is his Department's policy to complete the decommissioning of nuclear power stations by returning the condition of the site to that of before the building of the plant.

The overall objective of decommissioning is to remove the hazards that a nuclear site possesses, giving due regard to security considerations, the safety of workers and the general public whilst also protecting the environment. Government consulted on amending the regulatory framework that applies to the final stages of nuclear decommissioning and set out its intention to legislate when Parliamentary time allows.

Under these proposals, site operators will be obliged to meet stringent conditions before the office for Nuclear Regulation will allow them to surrender the nuclear licence. After this point the site will remain under regulation by the relevant environment agency and Health and Safety Executive. Further clean-up will be regulated in the same way as for any industrial sites; site operators will be obliged to consult with local authorities and local stakeholders to decide the next use of the site and to carry out clean-up as appropriate for this next use. Several nuclear power stations were constructed on the sites of existing industrial use including former munitions factories and have now been restored to an improved condition following the decommissioning of the stations.