Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
There is also an opportunity to save taxpayers’ money by accelerating the programme to create...
Conclusion
There is also an opportunity to save taxpayers’ money by accelerating the programme to create a deep storage facility, known as the Geological Disposal Facility, to store highly radioactive waste that is currently held at interim facilities at Sellafield and the sites of former power stations elsewhere in the UK. Current international scientific advice is that the best thing to do with this type of waste is to store it underground, and other countries are seeking to take this approach. The NDA told us it was working with the Department, the relevant regulators and interested communities to identify a suitable site for such a facility. In common with most other countries with a nuclear legacy, the Department is following a consent-based process to identify a suitable site, which by its nature means the Department must wait until it has a community that is giving consent. It told us if it is ultimately not possible to run a consent-based process, then there are alternatives available to it, but its clear preference is to go down that path and to give it every chance of success as a first priority. Due to the uncertainties of this process, the Department was unable to indicate a timeframe in which a Geological Disposal Facility might be completed.16 Maximising the potential of assets
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
2.12 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 2.13 The NDA and the government agree that it is a priority to identify a location for a geological disposal facility. A process to identify a location is currently underway. The Authority expects a geological disposal facility to be operational by the 2040s. 2.14 In addition, the NDA is examining the technical feasibility of disposing of a proportion of less hazardous radioactive waste currently stored at Sellafield in a near surface disposal facility. The type of waste under consideration for disposal in a near surface facility is less hazardous intermediate level radioactive waste. This waste does not require the isolation and containment of geological disposal to be disposed of safely. More of this type of waste will arise in future as decommissioning progresses. This exploratory work supports government policy which requires the NDA to consider other disposal options that could improve the long-term management of higher activity waste. 2.15 Disposing of less hazardous intermediate level waste in near surface facilities could result in earlier and more cost-effective decommissioning of nuclear sites. It could reduce the need for interim storage at Sellafield and elsewhere. The NDA estimates it could take approximately 10 years to obtain the necessary regulatory permissions and build a near surface facility. It is also exploring whether an existing facility for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste could also take intermediate level waste that is close to the boundary between intermediate level waste and low-level waste.