Engineering news
A public consultation on the specifics of a geological disposal facility for nuclear waste has been launched by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
The consultation outlines proposals for assembling and presenting information on the geology of England, Wales and Northern Ireland to help decide where a long term underground store for nuclear waste might be sited.
The 12 week consultation is being run by Radioactive Waste Management (RWM), a part of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), and is one of the first steps to ensure that the public plays a role in the project to plan, build and operate a geological nuclear disposal facility.
Geological disposal involves placing waste deep underground to isolate hazardous nuclear materials from the surface and contain it while its radioactivity naturally reduces. Professor Cherry Tweed, RWM's chief scientific advisor, said: “The facility we are planning will be up to 1,000 metres underground. To put that into perspective, the deepest part of the London underground is about 65 metres deep.
“Geological disposal is internationally accepted as the most practical and safest way to manage the most radioactive of our waste. Although around 90% of the hazard decreases in around 1,000 years, the residual amount needs to be taken care of for hundreds and thousands of years. That's where geological disposal comes in. Isolation to get it away from the surface environment and containment to keep it there for long timescales so the natural radioactive decay process can take place and the waste to no longer poses a hazard.”
Natalyn Ala, Geological Disposal Facility siting director at RWM told PE, “The consultation will collect existing and relevant geological information to inform early discussions with communities about their potential suitability to host a geological disposal facility.”
Ala said that the UK is following the lead of other countries such as Sweden, France and Canada which have already developed GDFs. “These countries have shown that the public want to learn more about geology and get involved in the process. Geology is just one aspect of the facility. It also involves public and team support, working together with engineers, scientists and geologists to design those facilities.”
After the conclusion of the 12 week consultation will come a "guidance" stage. RWM will work closely with the British Geological Survey (BGS), who hold definitive information on British geology to develop short regional summaries of geology, supported by maps and including an explanation of what this means for the long-term safety of geological disposal.
RWM is conducting the national geological screening exercise as part of a commitment outlined in the government’s White Paper: "Implementing Geological Disposal." Prior to this publication, another consultation had revealed a public desire for information on geology to be made available to help inform community decision making.
The RWM will then ask for feedback on its proposed approach to national geological screening, the sources of information it plans to use, how it presents the information.
“The public is very keen to learn all about geology have this information, and be involved in the process,” Ala said. “The facility is for the safety and security of future generations,” said Ala. “People of all ages have an opportunity to get involved and impact the future of waste management.”
One of the benefits of the facility is that it brings jobs and investments. “The facility will take us more than 10 years to build and will operate for around 100 years. The communities that really benefit from that are the ones that seize that opportunity and build further economic development on top,” added Tweed.
The consultation, which will run until Friday 4 December 2015 can be accessed here.