CoRWM Recommends Deep Geological Disposal of Nuclear Waste

This article appeared in International Energy Law and Taxation Review in May 2006 and was written by Rebecca Harvey, Senior Associate, International Construction & Energy Group, Pinsent Masons.

The Committee for Radioactive Waste Management (“CoRWM”) is an independent committee tasked with making recommendations to the Government on how to deal with waste from the United Kingdom’s civil nuclear facilities.  CoRWM has now published its draft recommendations to the Government which identify deep geological disposal as its preferred option for the long-term management of radioactive waste.

CoRWM had recently revealed the results of a consultation of around 2,800 members of the public, which considered three possible options for radioactive waste management, namely: (1) long-term interim storage, either above ground or below the surface at existing nuclear or new sites; (2) deep geological disposal, where the waste is buried in rocks deep underground and permanently sealed off; and (3) phased deep geological disposal, which is the same process as deep disposal, but would allow continued monitoring and later retrieval of the waste. 

The latter option was favoured by the public, perhaps because of the ability to retrieve the waste and dispose of it in a more permanent, safe manner at a later date. 

Although the CoRWM draft recommends deep geological disposal, it recognises that implementation could take several decades.  Therefore, as part of the long-term management strategy, CoRWM envisages a programme of interim storage which should be robust enough to allow for any delay to the repository programme.  This would also allow further research to be undertaken into other permanent methods of disposal, which might make the recommendations more acceptable to the public. 

CoRWM is due to present its final recommendations to the Government later in the summer.

Finding an acceptable solution to the management of nuclear waste is one of the key factors which will determine whether or not the Government decides to proceed with building a new generation of nuclear power plants in the United Kingdom. 

The United Kingdom already has a legacy of nuclear waste which needs to be managed, a significant percentage of which arises from the original research test reactors back in the 1950s and 1960s. The third generation reactors are considerably more efficient and produce very significantly reduced quantities of waste. Nevertheless, that waste does still need to be managed and the committee’s recommendations would apply not only to the existing legacy waste, but also to any waste created by new nuclear facilities, if the Government decides to include nuclear power in the future UK energy mix.

In other nations such as Finland and Romania, reaching a decision on how to manage waste, even without an actual physical facility in place, has proved one of the keys to persuading public opinion about new build. Moreover, if new reactors are to be built, the only realistic option is to build them on existing sites.  However, in order to clear those sites to meet the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s programme, the NDA have made it clear that an early decision by the Government following the CoRWM recommendations is key.

As well as the issue of waste, the Government must consider the dwindling nuclear skills pool, the economics of nuclear energy and public opinion which is still influenced by accidents at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, as well as concerns about the threat of terrorism. Those factors, weighed against what is a reliable, non-carbon emitting source of energy which also has the potential to be a source of unlimited production of hydrogen, present the Government with a considerable political conundrum.

.

For media enquiries contact :

Lakhbir Rakar
CM PR Advisor
Pinsent Masons
Direct Dial +44 (0)121 260 4005
Fax +44 (0)121 626 1040
E-mail lakhbir.rakar@pinsentmasons.com