A new consultation has been launched to ask communities where radioactive waste should be disposed of in the UK.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change is seeking public approval to set up a multi-billion Geological Disposal Facility (GDF).
The facility would be used to dispose of current and future radioactive waste by placing it safely underground.
The consultation, which does not apply to Scotland, will seek to gather views and increase public awareness of the project.
“Geological disposal is the right approach for the long-term, safe and secure management of the UK’s higher activity radioactive waste,” Baroness Verma, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Under the revised consultation process, a positive community-wide demonstration of support would be required before a community could host a GDF and communities would have an on-going right to withdraw from the process, a statement by the government suggested.
“For more than 50 years, we have all benefited from the use of clean and secure nuclear energy, but we have not successfully addressed the long term disposal of higher activity radioactive waste,” said Bruce McKirdy, managing director of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s radioactive waste management directorate.
“As the body responsible for the design, development and delivery of a geological disposal facility, we look forward to working with communities, stakeholders and the Government to take responsibility for our past and avoid passing the burden of legacy waste to future generations.”
The choice of the location for the facility would be dependent on the needs of the community and would take about 15 years to finalise, with another 15 years to build, generating more than 1000 positions for the construction period and around 560 new jobs over the GDF’s expected lifespan of 100 years.
Recommended for you
