Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether (a) she or (b) the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will make a decision, following consultation, on whether more nuclear waste from former Magnox Stations will be stored in situ for the indefinite future.

Guidance issued by the environment agencies (Guidance on Requirements for Release of Nuclear Sites from Radioactive Substances Regulation) identifies a credible option of leaving behind some low level radioactive waste as a permitted disposal after a nuclear site has been decommissioned. All Site Licence Companies, including Magnox Ltd, are required to consider the new guidance when defining the optimum end state for each site. In situ disposal of some wastes, rather than retrieving and disposing of it in some other manner, could significantly reduce environmental impacts, health and safety risks and costs and preserve much-needed waste disposal infrastructure capacity.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and Magnox Ltd, which became a subsidiary of the NDA on 1 September 2019, will continually review key strategies (including those relating to waste management and end states) and engage with stakeholders where necessary to ensure that plans represent the best and most up-to-date approaches.