Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which existing nuclear waste facilities are foolproof against (1) all possible types of security threat from land, sea and air, and (2) the consequences of climate change.
Answered by Lord Henley
All nuclear sites, including nuclear waste facilities, are required to develop and maintain a site security plan in order to be licensed to operate by the Office for Nuclear Regulation. These site security plans are required to demonstrate compliance against the Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003, which includes having to plan for managing all types of potential security threats. Implementation of the plans is also overseen by the Office for Nuclear Regulation.
Flooding and climate change considerations are a major element of the Safety Case that must be developed and maintained for every nuclear facility as part of the licence conditions against which sites must operate. These Safety Cases are also assessed and approved by the by the Office for Nuclear Regulation. In addition, operators of nuclear waste disposal facilities must produce Environmental Safety Cases which demonstrate the safety of disposals of nuclear waste, now and in the future, managed within assessed risk scenarios consistent with regulatory guidance. These risk scenarios include the potential consequences of climate change. It is the Environmental Safety Case that determines if disposals may continue or not and what limitations or conditions may be required to minimise any impact to the environment.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the soundness of the fabric and installations currently containing nuclear waste in (1) the short-term, (2) the mid-term, and (3) the long-term; and, in the light of that assessment, what assessment they have made of the urgency of constructing new facilities.
Answered by Lord Henley
The safety and integrity of installations currently containing nuclear waste are kept under constant review by the Office for Nuclear Regulation, as the regulatory body responsible for the safety of nuclear installations in the UK. In 2009, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority carried out a national review of nuclear waste stores it is responsible for on behalf of the Government. This work has informed the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s current strategy for the safe and secure management of radioactive waste installations, which was last updated in 2016 and includes an ongoing programme of radioactive waste retrieval, treatment and storage.
Modern radioactive waste stores are designed to store waste for at least 100 years and operated to provide an environment necessary to ensure the longevity of the waste packaging. Packages for radioactive waste in the UK need to meet the appropriate regulatory standards and expectations to ensure their suitability for long-term storage and compatibility with the requirements for permanent disposal in the future.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will make public their findings of the relative geological suitability of all parts of the UK, including potential offshore sites, for the disposal of nuclear waste.
Answered by Lord Henley
Ahead of the launch of a siting process for a Geological Disposal Facility, the Government will publish the findings from a National Geological Screening (NGS) exercise that brings together existing information about England, Wales and Northern Ireland’s geology relevant to the long term safety of a geological disposal facility. These findings will be presented in the format of a series of brief narratives describing the key characteristics of the geological environment and their relevance to safety for siting a Geological Disposal Facility for the whole of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, subdivided in to 13 regions and out to 20 kilometres from the shore. The narratives will be illustrated with maps, where appropriate. For some attributes, information will be presented at a national level only, because data are very sparse or vary little across all regions, and so there will also be a short national output presenting this information, which is applicable to all regions. The findings will be made available in an accessible form, providing authoritative information that can be used in early discussions with communities about their geological potential to host a disposal facility.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to evaluate the suitability of offshore sites at (1) 5km, (2) 20km, and (3) other distances from the shoreline for the disposal of nuclear waste.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government has undertaken generic design work on the construction requirements for a Geological Disposal Facility, which demonstrate that the depth of the underground facilities are expected to be between 200m and 1000m. This work demonstrates that while the surface structures and access points of a Geological Disposal Facility will be located on land, the design could allow the underground facilities to extend offshore if accessed from onshore surface sites. Therefore the National Geological Screening (NGS) exercise will bring together existing information about England, Wales and Northern Ireland’s geology relevant to the long term safety of a geological disposal facility examines geological attributes out to 20 kilometres from the shore which is the extent of UK territorial waters.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken to assess (1) which areas of the UK are most geologically suitable for the disposal of nuclear waste, and (2) which areas are less geologically suitable; and what priority they will give to the outcome of that process in consulting local communities prior to designating a site.
Answered by Lord Henley
Ahead of the launch of a siting process for a Geological Disposal Facility, the Government will publish the findings from a National Geological Screening (NGS) exercise that brings together existing information about England, Wales and Northern Ireland’s geology relevant to the long term safety of a geological disposal facility. The findings from this exercise will not assess areas as either ‘suitable’ or ‘unsuitable’, but will provide an initial indication of the likely geological suitability of an area where the local community is interested in participating in the consent-based siting process for the disposal facility. There are a large range of potentially suitable geological settings in the UK, and the findings will inform early discussions with communities and provide the basis of subsequent detailed, site-specific geological investigations, which will be necessary to assess the degree to which a location is suitable or unsuitable.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking as part of their consultation on geological disposal infrastructure for nuclear waste to screen out those areas of the UK that are geologically unsuitable for the disposal of nuclear waste.
Answered by Lord Henley
Ahead of the launch of a siting process for a Geological Disposal Facility, the Government will publish the findings from a National Geological Screening (NGS) exercise that brings together existing information about England, Wales and Northern Ireland’s geology relevant to the long term safety of a geological disposal facility. The findings from this exercise will not assess areas as either ‘suitable’ or ‘unsuitable’, but will provide an initial indication of the likely geological suitability of an area where the local community is interested in participating in the consent-based siting process for the disposal facility. There are a large range of potentially suitable geological settings in the UK, and the findings will inform early discussions with communities and provide the basis of subsequent detailed, site-specific geological investigations, which will be necessary to determine, whether a location is suitable or unsuitable.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they still intend to take steps to ensure that any site proposed by them for a national nuclear waste repository will be dependent on the approval and consent of all the relevant local, county and regional authorities.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is committed to a consent based approach for siting a geological disposal facility, which will involve working with communities that are willing to participate in the siting process. In the 2014 Geological Disposal White Paper Government recognised that local representative bodies – including all levels of local government – will need to have a voice in this process.
In addition, a Geological Disposal Facility and associated boreholes have been brought within the definition of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects under the Planning Act 2008. The development consent process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects places specific requirements on the developer to consult local communities, local authorities, statutory bodies, and other interested parties before any application for development consent is made.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress is being made by the national geological screening process to establish, in terms of the long-term geology and safety, what sites within the UK will be most appropriate for the siting of a national nuclear waste repository; and whether the screening includes possible maritime sites.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Radioactive Waste Management, the delivery body for a geological disposal facility, are gathering information about the type of rock, rock structure, groundwater, natural processes and resources for regions across England, Wales and Northern Ireland that will be relevant to a geological disposal safety case. This information will be made publicly available, and will help communities better understand their potential suitability to host a geological disposal facility. It will not determine if any particular location, region or area can definitively host one. That can only be done through extensive local investigations. No sites have been selected or are under consideration. The Government is committed to a consent based approach for siting a geological disposal facility, which will involve working with communities that are willing to participate in the siting process.
The design of a geological disposal facility could allow the underground facilities to extend offshore if accessed from onshore surface facilities. Therefore screening will consider the geological environment up to 20km offshore in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the BBC Panorama programme broadcast on 5 September concerning safety and its management at Sellafield; whether they plan to take any remedial action in the light of that programme; and if so, what.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government disagrees with Panorama’s presentation of safety at Sellafield. The site is a legacy of the UK’s early nuclear programmes. The independent Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has confirmed that it remains safe. The Government’s objective is to decommission its facilities safely, cost-effectively and as quickly as possible. This is an enormously complex task, but we are making significant progress and we expect that to continue.
Our nuclear industry is one of the most highly regulated in the world and the ONR inspects all civil nuclear sites on a regular basis to ensure high levels of safety. The ONR have stated that hazard and risk reduction at Sellafield remains their number one priority, with over 50 highly qualified and experienced inspectors working to ensure the site operates as safely and securely as possible.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they are doing to preserve and enhance the international character and international standing of British universities and their research.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is determined to ensure that the UK continues to play a leading role in European and international research and innovation. It is promoting the international success of UK universities through bilateral engagement with overseas partners, the Britain is GREAT marketing campaign which has education and science pillars, and through the Chevening and Commonwealth scholarship schemes.
For example, in November 2015, the Indian and UK Prime Ministers jointly announced the ‘2016 UK-India Year of Education, Research and Innovation’. This was immediately followed by a major education visit to India, including 28 vice-chancellors to increase higher education partnerships.
Programmes such as the UK China Partners in Education programme and the UK India Education Research Initiative bring long term international collaboration.
Our international research is being enhanced through the Government’s Newton Fund, a £735 million UK investment matched by partner countries, linking our universities with researchers in 16 major emerging economies. Our Global Challenge Research Fund, £1.5 billion and Ross Fund, £1bn., support universities engaging in global challenges including health, agritech and water research.
British universities have a world-class reputation for both education and research. Globally the UK has four universities in the top ten and ten in the top fifty in the QS rankings, a 10% share of the international student recruitment market, and 15.9% per cent of the world’s most highly-cited research articles.