UK plans national radioactive storage site
24 Jul 2014
Plans for a single geological disposal facility (GDF) to hold all of the UK’s radioactive waste were launched by the government today.
The launch of a new long-term plan follows a consultation on improving the process of finding a site to host a GDF. Based on feedback to the consultation, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) claimed it had created “a new and improved plan for working with communities to identify a site for a GDF”.
The area that eventually hosts a Geological Disposal Facility will benefit from significant investment in the community
Energy secretary Ed Davey
Over the next two years the Government will work with experts and the public to give greater clarity on issues such as national geological screening, the planning process and the environmental impacts. It will also look at how communities will be represented and what further investment they can expect to see if they choose to host the GDF.
“Geological disposal provides the secure, long-term solution we need to deal with the radioactive waste we have been creating for more than 60 years, and we can learn from the experiences of other countries who are also doing this,” said Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey.
“Today we’re setting out our plan to find a suitable site, based on a fundamental principle of listening to people, to make sure we have the right process in place. The area that eventually hosts a Geological Disposal Facility will benefit from significant investment in the community and hundreds of skilled jobs for decades to come.”
Radioactive waste comes from a range of sources including generating electricity in nuclear power stations, using radioactive materials in industry, medicine and research, and from defence-related nuclear programmes.
Currently, it is stored at nuclear sites across the country, but DECC claims a GDF would “enable us to dispose of our waste permanently”.
“It is internationally recognised as the safest and most secure way of dealing with radioactive waste on a long-term basis, with countries including Finland, Sweden and Canada already ahead of us in implementing it,” said a DECC spokesman.
