Assessing radioactive waste disposal sites
This consultation sought views on how potential sites for geological disposal of higher activity waste will be identified and assessed during…
This consultation sought views on how potential sites for geological disposal of higher activity waste will be identified and assessed during Stage 4 of the Government’s Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) Programme.
It set out how desk-based studies would be used to identify possible sites from areas put forward following a decision by local authorities to participate in the geological disposal facility siting process.
It also set out how possible sites could be assessed against agreed criteria and how local decisions, and subsequent Government decisions, will be made about any sites that might be put forward for more detailed geological assessment in Stage 5 of the MRWS programme.
The consultation is now closed and the Government has published its response (see below). The Government would like to thank respondents for their contributions to the consultation. Having considered all responses received the Government has concluded there was general support for its proposals for site identification and assessment and for the criteria which will be used to identify and evaluate potential candidate sites.
To accompany the response, the Government has also published a Framework document (see below) which contains the agreed criteria and a high-level description of the desk-based site identification and assessment process for England. It reflects the proposals presented in the public consultation including a number of additions and clarifications to the criteria, in response to comments received. It confirms that sites will be assessed using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) as a tool to aid decision making and it sets out the next steps to develop this methodology, including the development of scoring scales and the weighting of the criteria.
The Government’s response to the consultation and the Framework document are available below.
Contact usEmail: radioactivewaste@decc.gsi.gov.uk Post: Department of Energy and Climate Change
Managing Radioactive Waste Safely Team
Area 3D, 3 Whitehall Place
London
SW1A 2AW
Post consultation documents Consultation document