RWMAC report on MoD radioactive waste practices

ANNEX 9
OTHER MoD SITES GIVING RISE TO DEFENCE WASTES

1. A number of other MoD establishments give rise to solid radioactive waste arisings and, thereby, contributions to the UK Radioactive Waste Management Inventory⁶. Some of these are as follows.

Her Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Portsmouth

2. The maintenance of berthing facilities for nuclear powered warships visiting the base gives rise to limited quantities of LLW. Facilities are being reduced, and this will lead to smaller quantities of waste in the future.

3. HMNB Portsmouth also acts as a receiving and disposal authority for waste arisings from the de-equipping of ships, and significant quantities of redundant naval stores equipment and instrumentation containing radioactive materials. MoD policy is to avoid the use of luminising compounds containing tritium and radium wherever possible; the arisings of this type of waste, which are already small, will decrease as older ships are disposed of. Reduced arisings of ILW and LLW are expected after 2010.

Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) Fort Halstead

4. DERA Fort Halstead produces small amounts of operational low-level depleted uranium (DU) contaminated wastes from research and development studies on projectiles.

Royal Air Force (RAF) Stafford

5. RAF Stafford acts as a collection centre for wastes arising at various MoD sites. This is classified as intermediate level DU waste, arising from counter-balance weights from military aircraft and redundant equipment.

Base Ordnance Depot (BOD) Donnington

6. BOD is part of the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) and is the repository for UK army equipment. Recovery of tritium from redundant and broken equipment is contracted out. Wastes arise from the maintenance of army equipment and de-equipping and include dials, scrap returned to stores, etc.

Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment, Dounreay

7. There are small amounts of ILW and LLW arising from operation of the Vulcan Naval test reactor located at Dounreay. These consist of various metallic wastes and resins from reactor decontamination operations.

8. There are, additionally, a number of MoD hospitals.

Annex references

1. Review of Radioactive Waste Management Policy, Final Conclusions (Cm 2919), HMSO, July 1995.

2. UK Strategy for Radioactive Discharges 2001-2020, Consultation Document, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions et al., June 2000.

3. The Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee's Review of the Ministry of Defence's Radioactive Waste Management and Practices, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, December 1997.

4. The Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee's Advice to Ministers on Radioactive Waste Management Issues at UKAEA Dounreay, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, January 1999.

5. RWMAC's response to the Environment Agency's public consultation on the application by AWE plc for revised authorisations under RSA93 for the Aldermaston and Burghfield sites, November 1999 (referenced in the RWMAC's 20th Annual Report).

6. The 1998 United Kingdom Radioactive Waste Inventory, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and UK Nirex Ltd, July 1999.