Treatment and packaging of higher activity wastes
To date, only about 10% of the HAW in the UK Radioactive Waste Inventory has been treated and packaged to make it suitable for interim storage and subsequent disposal.
We are scrutinising progress in treating and packaging HAW, including R&D on new treatment methods and package types. Our findings to date are in our 2009 report on interim storage (doc. 2500).
Key CoRWM recommendation
- Greater strategic co-ordination of treatment and packaging of HAW.
Transport of higher activity wastes
There is currently very little transport of HAW in the UK. There will be much more in the future. HAW could be transported from one nuclear site to another for treatment or further storage. Eventually transport to disposal facilities will be required.
We considered transport in our 2009 report on interim storage (doc. 2500). We found that there is a need for:
- better strategic coordination of transport plans
- more public and stakeholder engagement (PSE) on transport.
We will be following developments closely.
Storage of higher activity wastes
Our findings on storage of HAW are in our 2009 report on interim storage (doc. 2500)
The Government aim is that there should be arrangements for safe and secure storage for at least 100 years. The 100 year timescale is based on a CoRWM recommendation made in 2006 (doc. 700). We found that current plans are adequate to meet the Government’s aim.
But the present UK approach to HAW storage is fragmented and not robust. Too few nuclear sites have contingency plans for replacing existing stores or building new stores if this becomes necessary.
Key CoRWM recommendation:
- Greater UK-wide strategic co-ordination of plans for the storage of HAW.
There is also a need for more co-ordination of R&D on storage.
We are currently monitoring the actions being taken by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and others to improve co-ordination of their storage plans and their R&D.
Management of spent fuels
UK has several types of spent nuclear fuel to deal with from both closed and operating nuclear power stations. There are also small quantities of non-standard “exotic fuels”, mostly from research reactors long closed down. Some spent fuels are being reprocessed to recover plutonium and uranium. Other spent fuels need to be conditioned and packaged for disposal.
We are following NDA development of topic strategies for spent fuels and British Energy plans for dry storage of Sizewell B spent fuel.
Management of Plutonium and Uranium
We reviewed NDA work on the long-term management of plutonium in our 2009 report on interim storage (doc. 2500). Government started consultations on the long-term management of plutonium in 2009 and a major public consultation is expected in 2010. We respond on waste-related matters in the consultations
There are materials containing uranium on a number of nuclear sites in the UK. The NDA is developing a topic strategy for uranic materials, which will set out plans for the materials it owns. In our 2009 report on interim storage (doc. 2500) we recommended that owners of uranium (e.g.NDA, the Ministry of Defence, British Energy) co-ordinate their work.
We are monitoring NDA’s work and other developments.
Organisations we work with
Much of our work involves scrutinising the development by NDA of its topic strategies for HAW, spent fuels, plutonium and uranium.
We also monitor the progress and plans of other waste producers, including British Energy and the Ministry of Defence. We keep in contact with the regulators of the nuclear industry: the Health and Safety Executive, the Environment Agency, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Department for Transport.