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"INDEPENDENT EXPERTS WELCOME NEW INITIATIVES FOR DECIDING FUTURE POLICY ON MANAGING RADIOACTIVE WASTES"
Press release
31 October 2001
In its Annual Report for 2000-2001, published today, the independent Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee (RWMAC) discusses the steps being taken by the Government to renew the national debate on the long-term management of the UK's radioactive wastes.
RWMAC welcomes these initiatives, but stresses that they will need to be taken forward carefully in order to provide the clear, comprehensive and consistent statement of UK policy that the Committee believes is required.
RWMAC's Chairman, Professor Charles Curtis of Manchester University, said :
"This report describes RWMAC's work over the past year. A key focus is the need for the Government to clarify its radioactive waste management policies, a process which the Committee is pleased to see has now been set underway. The last definitive statement of Government policy dates from 1995. This has been overtaken by several important developments and there has, in effect, been a policy vacuum in recent years.
This has made life difficult for waste producers, both in the public and private sectors, who must plan, and make provision for, the management of their wastes. It has also caused difficulty for the regulators who must have clear statements of national policy upon which to base their work.
RWMAC is pleased to see that the Government is basing the process of formulating new policy on wide public debate of all the issues. I believe this is in line with the advice that the Committee has given to Ministers.
UK policy on both the long-term management of solid radioactive waste and the control of radioactive discharges to the environment needs to be clarified. This will not be a straightforward. Ways must be found to help the public understand the complicated issues involved. Presenting information in an objective and easily-understandable manner will be a major challenge. But new policies will only work if they have, and can be seen to have, widely-based support."
On 12 September, RWMAC published its advice to Ministers on "The Process for Formulation of Future Policy for the Long Term Management of UK Solid Radioactive Waste". This is summarised in the Annual Report; the report also discusses the Committee's views of policy and practice for the control of radioactive discharges, not least in light of the need to satisfy the UK's international commitments.
Clarification of policies for the long-term management of solid radioactive wastes will take time. Agreement of future radioactive waste management strategies, based on public debate, could take as long as five years and the development of new waste management facilities, in line with the plans once they are agreed, possibly several decades. RWMAC emphasises the amounts of raw wastes that are already present on UK nuclear sites and the need for early conditioning to ensure that they can be stored in conditions of passive safety in the interim.
Two major RWMAC studies completed during 2000-2001 - on management of Ministry of Defence radioactive wastes and on the plan for restoration of Dounreay - provide detailed advice on specific waste management issues associated with large nuclear sites. It is vital that the strategies developed for dealing with these site-based problems should be informed by open discussions between operators, regulators, and those, usually local people, most affected. For defence wastes, RWMAC also recommends the setting-up of a new MoD regulator to ensure that responsibilities are being properly discharged.
Not all wastes arise from the nuclear and defence sectors and RWMAC is pleased to see that the Government has asked for views on recommendations made by the Committee for managing redundant radioactive sources, primarily those used in the medical and education sectors, which can represent a significant financial burden.
RWMAC has now embarked on a new work programme, addressing new topics on which the Government has sought advice, which is designed, in substantial part, to aid the development of thinking on these new policies and strategies.
Notes for editors
Since the 1995 Government White Paper on radioactive waste management policy, plans for underground disposal of intermediate level waste in the UK have been abandoned. The UK has also entered into a binding international agreement to achieve significant reductions in the discharge of radioactivity to sea.
On 12 September 2001, the Government launched a consultation paper "Managing Radioactive Waste Safely", seeking public views on the way that decision-making for radioactive waste policy should be managed. RWMAC's advice to Ministers on the process for formulating new policy for solid wastes was published on the same day. UK policy on radioactive discharges is being developed following two public consultations - on the National Radioactive Discharges Strategy, and on statutory guidance for the environment agencies, in 1999 and 2000 respectively.
The report is posted on the RWMAC website www.defra.gov.uk/rwmac/index.htm and can be purchased from: Defra Publications, ADMAIL 6000, London SW1A 2XX (08459 556000). Press Enquiries to : 0207 944 6260/6254.
