The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Philip Dunne)
I am announcing today that the Ministry of Defence’s submarine dismantling project (SDP) has published the final shortlist of candidate sites for the storage of intermediate-level radioactive waste removed from nuclear-powered submarines after they have left naval service and been defuelled. The storage will be for an interim period until the UK’s geological disposal facility is available some time after 2040. I am also announcing that public consultation on the storage sites will begin on 14 November 2014.
The provisional shortlist I announced on 13 February 2014, Official Report, column 70WS, was as follows: the atomic weapons establishment sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield in Berkshire, which are owned by the MOD and run by AWE plc; Sellafield in Cumbria and Chapelcross in Dumfriesshire, which are owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority; and Capenhurst in Cheshire, which is run by Capenhurst Nuclear Services.
We have now completed a period of pre-engagement with local authorities, elected representatives and established site stakeholder groups around each of the shortlisted sites. This provided these groups with an early opportunity to understand and comment on the criteria that should be considered during the main assessment of shortlisted sites. It is also helping to shape plans for the formal public consultation that we will carry out before any decisions are made.
The assessment process considers:
Whole life costs for each site.
Operational effectiveness of the site.
A strategic environmental assessment (SEA).
The project schedule proposed by the site owner.
Other contributory factors such as anticipated public opinion, policy and planningin each area.
Today we have published the final shortlist of sites. This is unchanged from the provisional list. Our analysis has not presented any grounds for discounting any of the sites at this stage.
This final shortlist will be taken forward as the basis for detailed assessment including public consultation, which will be carried out locally around each candidate site, as well as nationally.
Public consultation will begin on 14 November 2014 and end on 20 February 2015. This will take the form of public meetings and engagement alongside a wealth of information being put into the public domain to aid stakeholders’ understanding of the project.
Further information on the SDP can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/submarine-dismantling-project-interim-storage-of-intermediate-level-radioactive-waste