Examination of Witnesses (Questions 140-141)
MR DAVID
BROUCHER, PROFESSOR
COLIN GRAY,
PROFESSOR SHAUN
GREGORY AND
PROFESSOR JOHN
SIMPSON
21 MARCH 2006
Q140 Linda Gilroy: The processing
of the waste and the costs of that would lie entirely with the
military programme rather than the civil programme?
Professor Simpson: I am not quite
sure what waste you are going to process out of the military programme
because the fissile material is there. You might have to rework
some of the plutonium to wash out material which had gradually
built up over time but that cost would be very small and would
probably be done in a plant which is not committed to EURATOM.
One of the things you have to remember is that France and the
United Kingdom, unlike the United States and Russia, are under
EURATOM safeguards, so in a sense anything that is not specifically
military is safeguarded via EURATOM.
Q141 Linda Gilroy: Finally how does
public opinion on the future of civil nuclear power compare with
public opinion on the future of the nuclear deterrent? Is there
any correlation or crossover in the debates that are going on?
Professor Simpson: I have not
seen any figures.
Chairman: Do any of you know what the
public opinion on either of them is? If you do not, I think we
had better finish there. Can I thank you very much indeed for
your very helpful and interesting evidence this morning. We are
most grateful and I would also like to thank the Committee for
keeping it tight and brief.
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