nuclear-news

With big plans for new nuclear stations, Britain desperately trying to get volunteers to host waste dump

Guardian 21st Jan 2018, The government is expected this week to begin a nationwide search for a community willing to host an underground nuclear waste dump to store highly
radioactive material for thousands of years.

Britain has been trying for years to secure a site with the right geology and local communities which would volunteer to host a £12bn geological disposal facility (GDF), as a
long-term solution for the most dangerous waste from nuclear power
stations.

The last effort hit a brick wall in 2013 when Cumbria county
council, the only local authority still in the running as a host for the
dump, rejected it.

Now, ministers are to relaunch their mission to win over
a community to host the GDF. The task has taken on heightened importance
now that a nuclear power plant is under construction in Somerset, with
plans to build four others.

Radioactive Waste Management, the government
body tasked with building the facility hundreds of metres underground, said
it had made significant progress since 2014 in “developing the offer” to
interested communities. Consultations on the planning process and how the
government will work with communities will be launched this week, said two
sources close to the process. “I hope to God they get it right this time,”
said one. “The mess they made in the past can’t be repeated. It’s
outrageous it became a victim of local politics last time.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/21/search-area-willing-host-highly-radioactive-waste-uk-geology

January 24, 2018 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | UK, wastes