Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing compensation to communities sited along railway lines and roads used to carry radioactive waste from existing nuclear facilities to final disposal in a national geological disposal facility.

No assessment has been made of the merits of providing potential compensation to communities positioned along transport routes to and from a geological disposal facility.

The UK has more than 50 years’ experience of transporting radioactive waste and materials safely by road, rail and sea. Nuclear fuel is transported routinely from fuel fabrication plants to nuclear power stations, and spent nuclear fuel is transported from power stations to Sellafield for reprocessing and storage.

Transport of radioactive materials is subject to strict controls and is robustly and independently regulated in order to protect people, property and the environment. There have been no transport incidents resulting in any significant radiation dose to an individual in connection with the transportation of radioactive waste and materials between UK nuclear facilities.

No site for a geological disposal facility has been identified. We are at an early stage in the process and the Government expects formal discussions to begin with interested communities in 2017.