Managing radioactive waste safely : initial geological unsuitability screening of West Cumbria

摘要

In 2001 the UK Government began the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely1(MRWS)udprogramme with the aim of identifying a long-term solution for the UK’s higher activity wastesudthat:ud• achieved long-term protection of people and the environmentud• did this in an open and transparent way that inspired public confidenceud• was based on sound science, andud• ensured the effective use of public monies.udIn 2003 the independent Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM)2wasudestablished to consider the available options and make recommendations to Government. InudOctober 2006, the Government accepted CoRWM’s recommendations that geological disposal,udpreceded by safe and secure interim storage, was the best available approach. Government alsoudaccepted that an approach based on voluntarism, and partnership with local communities, wasudthe best way of siting a geological disposal facility (GDF).udGeological disposal involves placing radioactive waste within engineered, multi-barrier facilitiesuddeep inside a suitable rock formation where the facility and geology provide a barrier against theudescape of radioactivity. Internationally it is recognised as the preferred approach - it is beingudadopted in many countries including Canada, Finland, France and Sweden - and is supported byuda number of UK learned societies including the Royal Society, the Geological Society and theudRoyal Society of Chemistry.udFollowing further consultation, the White Paper ‘Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS):udA Framework for Implementing Geological Disposal’ was published in 2008; it sets out a stagedudapproach to siting a geological disposal facility. The process starts with local communitiesudinitially ‘expressing an interest’ in opening up discussions with Government. At each stage, theudprocess allows all those involved to take stock before deciding whether or not to move to theudnext stage at a particular site. Up until late in the process, when underground operations andudconstruction are about to begin, the community has a Right of Withdrawal - if it wished toudwithdraw then its involvement in the process would stop. Figure 1, below, shows the main stagesudin the process.udThe Nuclear Decommissioning Agency (NDA) have since published an additional documentud‘Geological Disposal: Steps towards implementation’3 which provides further information onudwhat will be required for the successful implementation of geological disposal.