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GOVERNMENT ADVISERS URGE NEW APPROACH TO SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE

Press release
12 September 2001

Whatever the future of nuclear energy, the problem of long-term radioactive waste management must be solved. A great deal of radioactive waste already exists. Doing nothing about the arrangements for its longer-term management is not an option. Initiatives based on an approach of deciding and announcing a particular policy, and then seeking subsequently to defend it, failed some years ago.

RWMAC is suggesting a fresh approach, one that is based on fundamental principles of openness, accessible decision-making and fairness. Speaking of the report, the Chairman of the RWMAC Working Group that led production of the advice, Professor Andrew Blowers of the Open University, said:

"The problem of radioactive waste is a problem for society as a whole. The public must be involved in the identification and agreement of appropriate solutions.

We need long-term solutions for all our radioactive waste. So we must identify all the options and evaluate them on a common basis against the criteria that the public identifies as being important. In this day and age you simply cannot impose particular solutions on people, they need to be discussed and justified through open debate.

In the past, the emphasis has usually been on underground burial of the waste. The Committee is not saying that this is the right solution neither are we saying it is the wrong solution. What we are saying is that, for the first time, all the practicable solutions need to be evaluated on, as far as possible, a common basis, both openly and transparently, to decide what is best. If people or groups have their own ideas, they should put them forward as part of this evaluation.

We cannot afford any more failed initiatives. Neither can we continue with no clear long-term policy. What we need are sensible and lasting solutions that command the widest possible public support".

The Committee is also suggesting that the process be overseen by an independent or, at least, balanced interest body that is widely perceived as being capable of representing the broader public interest. Starting with an essentially clean sheet, the process would use a range of consultation methods and techniques to evaluate views that would lead ultimately to recommendation of a specific option for the management of the various wastes.

The Government has indicated that it is in favour of a wide-ranging public consultation and debate on the relevant issues in deciding future policy. RWMAC fully supports this approach. What the committee has done is to advise Government of the form of process that it believes needs to be gone through to arrive at a decision.

RWMAC believes that this form of approach offers the best chance of securing the widespread support necessary to deal with a problem that affects both present and future generations.

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. This is the published version of advice first supplied to Ministers on 2 July 2001.

Government policy for the long-term management of many forms of radioactive waste has effectively been uncertain since March 1997, when a UK Nirex programme to build a deep underground repository for intermediate level radioactive waste collapsed, through failure to secure planning permission for an underground laboratory at Longlands Farm near Sellafield.

The text of the report can be found on the RWMAC website. Copies of the report can be purchased from: Defra Publications, ADMAIL 6000, London SW1A 2XX (08459 556000).

Press Enquiries: 0207 944 6260/6254 - RWMAC Secretariat.