31 Jul (NucNet): A deep geological disposal facility for nuclear waste could be built in the UK under national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty because it is right for safety matters to prevail over environmental concerns, a parliamentary committee has concluded.
The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee said major developments should not be allowed in designated areas except under exceptional circumstances, but existing planning legislation and proposed policies contain sufficient safeguards against intrusive developments and environmental damage in national parks and AONBs.
“Moreover, we support the government’s view that it is conceivable for a GDI [geological disposal infrastructure] to be designed in a way that would be acceptable to communities, preserve the socioeconomic benefits that national parks and AONBs currently bring them and avoid any intrusive surface facility in conservation areas.”
According to the committee, which was asked to scrutinise government plans, the search for a safe solution to dispose of higher activity radioactive waste in the UK has “a long and contentious history dating back to 1976”.
Following several controversies and strong opposition from local communities to having a site imposed on them, in 2001 the then government adopted a different approach which led to a recommendation that geological disposal was the best available approach for the long-term management of higher activity radioactive waste.
Other options had included transmutation, which involves the conversion of one chemical element or isotope into another chemical element. This method has the potential to help solve some problems posed by the management of radioactive waste by reducing the proportion of long-lived isotopes it contains, but would not eliminate the need for a deep geological repository.
Following the recommendation to use a deep geological repository, it became the government’s policy to dispose of this waste. Other countries like Canada, Finland, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan and the US have also adopted this approach, the committee said.
Following this recommendation, it became the government’s policy to dispose of this waste. Other countries like Canada, Finland, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan and the US have also adopted this approach, the committee said.
“Successive governments have for too long left it for future generations to find a solution to dispose safely of higher activity radioactive waste,” the committee said. “It is time for a decision.”
The committee said it was satisfied that a draft national policy statement published in January 2018 “provides the right level of guidance. . . on the type of GDI that will be suitable for England’s legacy and future higher activity radioactive waste”.
“Provided that the government takes into account our recommendations, we support the case for the final national policy statement to be brought forward and approved by parliament.”
If a deep geological repository is approved it would be used to store England’s high-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste, alongside small proportions of low-level waste and other hazardous spent fuels and stocks.
Details online: https://bit.ly/2LEaXIr
