RWMAC home
|
Terms of Reference
|
Membership
|
Reports & Publications
|
RSA93 Consultations
|
Press Releases
|
Contacting RWMAC
WATCHDOG COMMITTEE ADVISES GOVERNMENT ON THE RADIOACTIVE WASTE IMPLICATIONS OF NUCLEAR REPROCESSING
Press release
15 November 2000
The Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee (RWMAC) today publishes the outcome of its review of the radioactive waste management implications of the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. The study focuses on reprocessing activities at BNFL's Sellafield site, currently the UK's only reprocessing facility.
Ministers asked the Committee to carry out this study as part of its 1999-2000 work programme. Speaking of the work, the RWMAC Chairman, Professor Charles Curtis, said:
"Spent nuclear fuel reprocessing continues to be a controversial issue. RWMAC has tried to take a rational look at various possible future reprocessing scenarios and what they imply in terms of the wastes and other materials generated, including radioactive discharges. The Committee hopes that the outcome will be useful to the Government in deciding its future reprocessing-related policies".
Two distinct types of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing are undertaken at BNFL Sellafield. There is reprocessing of uranium metal fuel from the UK's older Magnox nuclear power plants in the B205 facility and also reprocessing of uranium oxide fuel from more modern Advanced Gas-Cooled and Light Water Reactors (AGRs and LWRs) in the THORP facility. THORP undertakes reprocessing of both UK and overseas spent nuclear fuel. The scenarios considered were chosen to span earliest possible termination of reprocessing, through current BNFL business plans, to the maximum possible extent of reprocessing that the company could reasonably foresee.
RWMAC observes that:
- reprocessing takes spent nuclear fuel and converts it into a range of materials: some of these may be deemed more stable than the spent fuel itself, some may be deemed reusable and some may be seen only as waste products
- the products of reprocessing include high level radioactive waste (HLW), intermediate level radioactive waste (ILW), low level radioactive waste (LLW) reprocessed uranium (in the form of its oxide) and separated plutonium (also in oxide form). These products have to be managed alongside any spent fuel that is not reprocessed, which would have to be regarded as another form of HLW
- stocks of all these materials already exist and what effectively the reprocessing is doing is varying the future balance between them: the RWMAC report indicates the amounts of each that would be held under each of the scenarios considered and the potential management implications
- reprocessing gives rise to radioactive discharges, both to the air and to the sea, that result in radiation doses to members of the public
- any activity that involves handling radioactive materials, including reprocessing, will also give rise to potential exposure of workers.
The study quantifies all these effects, insofar as is reasonably possible, for the various scenarios considered.
Two of the most controversial aspects of reprocessing are the stockpiles of separated plutonium and reprocessed uranium that it generates and the radioactive discharges that it gives rise to. In particular, the possible security risks of the plutonium stockpile give rise to concern.
The study shows that the UK's currently foreseen nuclear programme, with the level of reprocessing anticipated, will lead to stocks of about 120 tonnes of reprocessed plutonium oxide and 110,000 tonnes of separated uranium oxide. Whether these materials are likely to be reusable for future electricity generation purposes will depend on the UK's future energy strategy and whether this involves the use of nuclear power. Reprocessing itself need not necessarily be part of any such future programme.
Under the 1998 OSPAR Sintra agreement, the Government committed the UK to reducing levels of radioactive discharges to the North East Atlantic. The work has shown that, for the currently envisaged UK nuclear programme, the Government's proposed interpretation of its OSPAR obligations is probably achievable, providing the B205 plant is able to complete all its necessary Magnox spent fuel reprocessing by around 2012 and a suitable means of extracting technetium-99 from current discharges can be found. These are areas to which RWMAC believes the Government and BNFL must continue to give particular attention. The Committee perceives, however, that any significantly increased reprocessing programme would be liable to compromise the UK's ability to meet such OSPAR objectives unless improved methods of radioactivity discharge abatement can be developed.
Finally, RWMAC has identified a number of issues that BNFL itself might usefully consider as indicators of its future operational performance. These include: progress with Magnox fuel reprocessing to allow closure of the B205 facility by about 2012; progress with return of products from the reprocessing of foreign nuclear fuel to overseas customers; progress with reducing radioactive discharges to meet the UK's declared OSPAR objectives; and progress towards the development of improved discharge abatement technology. Clear and specific annual reporting by BNFL against these kinds of indicators is recommended by RWMAC.
Notes for editors
RWMAC is the independent body that gives advice to the UK Government, including the devolved administrations for Scotland and Wales, on policy and practices relating to the management of civil radioactive wastes.
At the 1998 Ministerial meeting of the Oslo and Paris (OSPAR) Commission, contracting parties to the 1992 Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic, including the UK, agreed on a strategy for reducing levels of radioactive discharges to the marine environment. The precise form of the agreement, and the Government's proposals for meeting its commitments under it, were set out in a consultation document - "UK Strategy for Radioactive Discharges 2001-2020: Consultation Document" - issued by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions in June 2000.
RWMAC takes the concept of passive storage of radioactive waste to be broadly the holding of the materials in a passively safe form with a minimal need for active control systems or human intervention.
The text of the RWMAC report was submitted as advice to Environment Ministers for England, Scotland and Wales on 8 August 2000. The text of the report can be found on the RWMAC website
Copies of the report can be purchased from : Publications Sales Centre, Unit 8, Goldthorpe Industrial Estate, Goldthorpe, Rotherham S63 9BL (01709 891318).
Press Enquiries : 0207 944 6260 (RWMAC Secretariat)
