Radioactive Waste

(asked on 7th December 2016) - View Source

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 Portrait
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This question was answered on 19th December 2016

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.

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