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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) emptying the Pile Fuel Storage Pond at Sellafield, (b) full radiological and toxicological decontamination of that pond and (c) conditioning, packaging and final long-term management of the spent nuclear fuel recovered from that pond.

The safe decommissioning of the Pile Fuel Storage Pond is a priority of the hazard and risk reduction programme at Sellafield. The entire bulk stocks of historic nuclear fuel have now been removed from this nearly 70 year old facility, and the assessed radioactive hazard risk associated with the facility has been reduced by 70%.

The current life time plan budget for emptying the Pile Fuel Storage Pond of fuel and waste, and decommissioning the facility in line with the agreed end state for the Sellafield site is approximately £1bn.