New working Group formed to discuss geological disposal of radioactive waste in UK
Today in Allerdale, a Working Group has been formed to start local engagement on whether somewhere in Allerdale could be a suitable location for a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) for higher activity radioactive waste. A GDF will only be built where there is both a willing community and a suitable site. Establishing a Working Group is just the starting point for engaging with people in a process that will take several years.
The creation of the working group is the first stage of the search for a suitable site and to understand the views of people across Allerdale about possibly hosting a GDF. It follows the formation of a GDF Working Group in Copeland in November.
The Working Group will include, among others, Allerdale Borough Council, Radioactive Waste Management (RWM), and private company GenR8 North Ltd.
A GDF would be made up of highly engineered vaults located deep underground designed to protect people and the environment and keep the radioactive waste safe and secure while the radioactivity naturally decays to safe levels.
Successive UK Governments, supported by scientific advice, agree that this is the right long-term solution for our higher activity radioactive waste, and there is overwhelming international consensus, with similar programmes now underway in Canada, Finland, France, Sweden and Switzerland
No potential site has been chosen and this first step is about engaging with people across the community and beginning to understand their views. It’s about looking to identify both a Search Area for further consideration and the initial membership for a larger Community Partnership that could take the discussion further with RWM. If a potentially suitable site were to be identified by a Community Partnership in due course, then the community around that site will get to choose if they want to host a GDF.
Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong, Independent Chair of the Allerdale GDF Working Group, said: “This is the beginning of a long process, and I want people to get involved from the very start to help to steer our way. A GDF in Allerdale could be a major boost to the area’s future prosperity and the skill base of its workforce. However, as a borough of outstanding natural beauty, with valuable habitats and cultural heritage, it’s also essential that any potential development doesn’t impact upon the things that make Allerdale a special place. That’s why it’s so important that the people of Allerdale have access to information, can ask questions and raise their issues and concerns before any decisions are made”
All engagement information can be found at: allerdale.workinginpartnership.org.uk
About the Geological Disposal facility siting Process in UK
Establishing a Working Group is just the starting point for engaging with the community, in a process that will take several years. The Working Group will identify and propose a Search Area for further consideration in the search for potentially suitable sites, engage citizens across the community to begin to understand their views, and recruit initial members for a Community Partnership with RWM that could take the process further forward.
Setting up the longer-term Community Partnership will trigger access to an immediate £1 million per year of community investment funding, available for projects and initiatives that drive economic development of the area, improve the local environment, or community well-being.
This figure will increase to £2.5 million per year per community if deep borehole drilling investigations are undertaken, but the major benefit is how a GDF might help the community’s very long-term vision for itself. A key task for the Community Partnership therefore will be developing that vision, which can underpin future significant additional investment in the community that succeeds in hosting a GDF.
The relevant Principal Local Authorities on the Community Partnership can agree to withdraw the community at any point. When ready, the relevant Principal Local Authorities on the Community Partnership will decide on a timeframe for seeking community agreement through a Test of Public Support (e.g. a local referendum, a formal consultation, or statistically representative polling).
Radioactive Waste Management, formed in 2014, is responsible for geological disposal to manage higher activity waste in England and Wales by finding a willing community and suitable site to construct and operate a UK GDF for the long-term management of higher-activity radioactive waste. RWM is a public body and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
For more information: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/radioactive-waste-management