nuclear-news

UK’s Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) recognising that nuclear waste is not just a technical issue

GDF Watch 28th Oct 2018 The publication of the tailored review on the Committee on Radioactive
Waste Management (CoRWM) sets out some revised principles for the
Committee’s future role. While the review says that the Committee’s
role and objectives needs updating, and that these should be set out in a
new framework, the Government says little about what that role might
actually be.

However, one specific area of activity under review is the
extent to which, and on what basis, CoRWM more actively participates in
public and community engagement. The July appointment of Sir Nigel Thrift
as CoRWM’s new Chair underlines the Government’s awareness of the need
to shift priority as the siting process relaunches. Sir Nigel is a human
geographer, a social scientist.

This is a marked shift from CoRWM’s
historic technical/scientific foundations, and a recognition that the
issues are increasingly social rather than technical – civics not
science. The minutes from CoRWM’s recent public plenary sessions indicate
that the Committee itself has been examining whether and how it should
become more active and more visible. Those who gave evidence to the
Committee, including GDFWatch, were in agreement that a revamped CoRWM
could have a critical role in building public trust in geological disposal
and the siting process.

http://www.gdfwatch.org.uk/2018/10/28/a-new-corwm-possibilities-for-the-expert-committee/

November 5, 2018 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general