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Energy: Radioactive Waste Management

My Lords, I welcome the noble Lord’s confirmation. I asked my officials aboutthis because in the past a lot of people involved in this area would come to round to my house about this subject—and not just those in the industry, but Ministers. So I respect what the noble Lord has said. The energy White Paper made the position abundantly clear. I am well aware of the allegations that nuclear waste would somehow not be dealt with, thus making it much easier for us to oppose new nuclear build. But we have to deal with nuclear waste whether there is new build or not; that is the reality. We owe it to future generations to deal with this waste. The people of this country want the lights to come on when they turn on the light switch. Approximately a fifth of that power is from nuclear energy. I do not want to get into new plants, but we have to deal with the waste whether or not there is a new build. The position on that was wrapped up more in the energy White Paper, quite separate to the CoRWM report.