13 May (NucNet): The UK government today renewed its “firm commitment” to establishing a national geological disposal facility for higher-activity radioactive waste and called for suggestions on how to make progress choosing a site.
Ed Davey, secretary of state for energy and climate change, announced the launch of a “call for evidence” on the site selection process.
The move follows a setback earlier this year when a local authority in west Cumbria voted to withdraw from the siting process.
Another local authority, Copeland Borough Council, voted in favour of remaining in the process, but it had previously been agreed that both authorities needed to vote in favour in order for the process to continue.
The government is calling for views from those who have been engaged in or have been interested observers of the process. Responses will inform a consultation which will take place later in the year.
The government said its policy for the long-term management of the UK’s higher activity radioactive waste is geological disposal with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority responsible for the policy’s implementation.
In 2008 the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) White Paper was published which outlined the framework for implementing geological disposal and set out the government’s preferred approach to site-selection.
The government said it remains firmly committed to geological disposal as “the right policy for the long term, safe and secure, management of higher activity radioactive waste”.
For more information see the UK government's website (http://tinyurl.com/cpb6rht).
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