DECC seeks views on radioactive disposal facility

The UK Government is inviting views on the site selection process to find a host community for an underground disposal facility for radioactive waste. The Department of Energy and Climate […]

The UK Government is inviting views on the site selection process to find a host community for an underground disposal facility for radioactive waste.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) issued a call for evidence yesterday of the on-going Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) programme.

It follows Cumbria County Council’s decision earlier this year to vote against allowing nuclear waste to be disposed beneath the Cumbrian countryside. Allerdale Borough Council and Copeland Council, however, voted in favour of assessing potential sites for the geological disposal facility (GDF).

Energy Minister Baroness Verma said: “The Government remains firmly committed to geological disposal as the right policy for the safe and secure long-term management of higher-activity radioactive waste. We also continue to hold the view that the best means of selecting a site for a geological disposal facility is an approach based on voluntarism and partnership.

“The fact that two local authorities in west Cumbria voted in favour of continuing the search for a potential site for a GDF demonstrates that communities can recognise the substantial benefits associated with hosting such a facility – both in terms of job creation and the wider benefits associated with its development.”

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