As reported by guardian.co.uk – The government is on the brink of letting nuclear power generators use ordinary landfill sites for dumping “hundreds of thousands of tons” of waste as it tries to reduce the £73 billion it costs to decommission old reactors.
However, the move which has triggered a wave of applications around the country from big corporations trying to cash in on this potential new business, has infuriated local councils and campaign groups.
Waste has become a critical government issue – as the stockpile becomes far greater than previously thought – ministers are also keen to encourage the power industry to build a new generation of reactors. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and its Nuclear Decommissioning Authority are currently considering the following actions:
• Allowing the nuclear industry to use ordinary landfill sites for disposing of radioactive waste in a more extensive way;
• Allowing the main independent nuclear waste dump at Drigg in Cumbria to reduce its costs by scaling back the level of containment;
• Building a £1.5 billion radioactive liquid-waste processing plant at Sellafield, Britain’s biggest atomic site, despite a history of project cost overruns and wider safety concerns there;
• Extending a blueprint for dealing with existing high-level waste to cover that created by future nuclear stations – an “unjustifiable” step – according to the chair of the committee that created the blueprint.
Cumbria county council which is regarded as the most pro-nuclear authority in the country, happens to be among those trying to stop at least two landfill sites from being used for dumping radioactive waste and the council’s frustration is threatening to undermine the government’s attempts to persuade it to host the country’s first high-level radioactive waste repository.
Tim Knowles, cabinet member for the environment on the council, stated that a small amount of nuclear waste was deposited into the Lillyhall landfill site, but that now they are trying to vastly expand this and use a former open-cast mine at Keekle Head, indicating that instead of moving a few tons it will be hundreds of thousands of tons.
Meanwhile, waste management firms have reacted by applying for permission to dispose of nuclear material; French-owned company, Sita (through its Endecom subsidiary), is applying to the Environment Agency for authorisation for a Radioactive Substances Act disposal unit for its Clifton Marsh landfill site near Preston. And, Sita has also presented local councillors and industry professionals plans to convert a former open-cast mine at Keekle Head, near Whitehaven, Cumbria.
Followed by rival waste company, Augean, which is trying to convince locals it should be allowed to dump nuclear waste at the East Northants Management Facility at Kings Cliffe village, near Peterborough, while EnergySolutions – a firm with deep roots in the nuclear industry – wants to extend the use of a landfill site at Lillyhall in Cumbria.
The energy department is expecting a decision on low-level waste from the NDA within “months” but reiterated that this would not affect the timing of its wider nuclear programme, and that a policy dating back to 2007 allowed landfill to be used for the disposal of very low-level waste “subject to appropriate regulatory authorisations” however, it was unclear as to whether any waste has been disposed of in this way.
Source article in full;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/oct/19/nuclear-waste-landfill-threat?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sendNuclearHeadlines
[...] Nuclear Landfill back in the field [...]
[...] Nuclear Landfill back in the field [...]
[...] Nuclear Landfill back in the field [...]
[...] Nuclear Landfill back in the field [...]