Radioactive Waste and its Management
Key organisations
The key organisations in the management of UK radioactive wastes are here.
The Wastes
Defra and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) maintain records of all the solid radioactive wastes created in the UK and of waste producers’ estimates of wastes that will be created in the future. They update this information at regular intervals and publish it as the “UK Radioactive Waste Inventory”. The latest version of the inventory relates to wastes that existed at 1 April 2007 and wastes projected to arise after that date. Details of this “2007 Inventory” are at www.nda.gov.uk/ukinventory and there is a summary at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/radioactivity/mrws/waste/index.htm
CoRWM’s remit includes all the higher activity wastes that exist now or are certain to be created. We refer to these as the “existing and committed wastes”. It also includes materials from past and current nuclear power and defence programmes that may be declared to be wastes in future. These materials are mostly spent nuclear fuels of various sorts, plutonium and uranium. In addition, we consider two aspects of wastes from a future nuclear power programme (“new build wastes”). These aspects are how new build wastes are to be managed once they have been created, and the implications of new build wastes for the management of existing and committed wastes.
Descriptions of the wastes in our remit are here (waste descriptions) and details of their volumes and radioactive content are here (waste volumes).
Interim storage
Existing wastes and materials that may be declared to be wastes are currently stored in various different ways, mainly at the sites where the wastes were created or the materials used. Our report on interim storage is here. The NDA's review of UK storage arrangements is available on their website (www.nda.gov.uk).
Geological disposal
UK work on geological disposal is being carried out within the Government’s “Managing Radioactive Waste Safely” programme. The NDA is the implementing organisation. Our 2009 report on geological disposal is here (see document 2550).
The regulatory framework
There are a number of organisations in the UK that have responsibility for regulating the way in which radioactive waste is managed.
The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, which is part of the Health and Safety Executive, regulates the management of wastes on nuclear licensed sites with the aim of protecting the safety of the workforce and the wider public (www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear). The Office of Civil Nuclear Security, which is also part of the HSE, is responsible for regulating the security of nuclear materials and information in the civil nuclear sector (www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/ocns).
Protection of the environment from the risks posed by radioactive materials and wastes is provided in England in Wales by the Environment Agency (www.environment-agency.gov.uk), in Scotland by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (www.sepa.org.uk) ], and in Northern Ireland by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (www.ni-environment.gov.uk). These environment agencies regulate the disposal of radioactive wastes on and from all sites except those that are both owned and operated by the Ministry of Defence. (There are no nuclear sites in Northern Ireland.)
The transport of radioactive materials and wastes is regulated by the Department for Transport.
Safeguards inspectors from the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency are charged with reducing the risk of nuclear proliferation. There is also a UK Safeguards Office in HSE (www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/ukso).
Sites managed directly by the Ministry of Defence are subject to special arrangements involving the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator and other MoD internal regulators which aim to apply controls with the same degree of rigour as HSE and the environment agencies.
Experience in other countries
The countries with the largest amounts of radioactive waste to manage are those with long-established civil and defence nuclear programmes – the United States, Russia, the UK and France. All of these countries have chosen geological disposal as the long-term management method for higher activity wastes.
United StatesThe US has the only geological disposal facility in the world that is currently operational. This is the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad in New Mexico. It takes US defence-related transuranic waste (ie waste in which the main radioactive constituents are plutonium, uranium and other actinides). Disposal is in vaults excavated in a salt formation 2,000 feet thick, beginning 850 feet below the surface. The site selection process for WIPP started in the 1950s but disposal operations did not begin until 1999. For more information, including videos, see www.wipp.energy.gov
The US is developing a geological disposal facility for spent fuel and high level waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The US Department of Energy began studying this site in 1978. The rock at the site is tuff, which is a hard volcanic rock. For more information on the Yucca Mountain project see www.ocrwm.doe.gov/ym_repository/index.shtml. The main regulator for the project is the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to whom USDOE submitted a licence application for the proposed disposal facility in June 2008. See www.nrc.gov/waste.html for more details of USNRC work. In February 2009 the USDOE Yucca Mountain programme was scaled back to only answering queries from USNRC, while the government devises a new strategy for the long-term management of spent fuel and high level waste.
RussiaRussia has large quantities of legacy higher activity wastes, including liquid high level wastes, power station spent fuels and submarine spent fuels. Many of these wastes are stored in old facilities of limited capacity. Work is underway to renovate existing stores, build new stores and find suitable areas for one or more geological disposal facilities.
FranceIn the late 1990s three sites were selected for investigation for a geological disposal facility for vitrified high level and other higher activity wastes. Investigations at the granite sites ceased but those at the marl site at Bure continued and an underground research facility is now operational there. See www.andra.fr for more information.
Other CountriesCanada – after many years of research and public consultation on the way forward, Canada is about to start a site selection process for a geological disposal facility for spent fuel (see www.nwmo.ca for more information).
Finland – is investigating the Olkiluoto area for a geological disposal facility for spent fuel and has constructed an underground research facility there (see www.posiva.fi/englanti for more information). It already has a repository for low level and short-lived intermediate level waste at Olkiluoto.
Germany – spent fuel is being stored at facilities at Gorleben and Ahaus, and further stores are being developed at reactor sites. From the mid 1980s to late 19901 a salt dome at Gorleben was investigated as a potential site for a geological disposal facility. A new siting process, involving wide public participation, was then developed but this has yet to be implemented. A licence has been issued to use a disused iron ore mine at Konrad as a geological disposal facility for low level and non-heat emitting intermediate level wastes.
Netherlands – is storing higher activity wastes.
Spain – suspended site selection activities some years ago and is storing all higher activity wastes.
Sweden – has had an extensive research programme on geological disposal since the late 1970s. It has an underground laboratory at Äspö and is investigating two potential sites for a geological disposal facility for spent fuel. There is a repository for low level and short-lived intermediate level waste at Forsmark. See www.skb.se for more information on management of radioactive waste in Sweden.
Switzerland – has carried out research on geological disposal for many years. It is now starting desk-based siting studies for two disposal facilities, one for low level and short-lived intermediate level waste, and one for high level waste and spent fuel. The plan is to identify two potential sites for each facilities, set up joint committees with the cantons in which the sites are located, and carry out detailed investigations at each site (see www.nagra.ch for more information).
Role of international organisations
International Atomic Energy Agency – the IAEA administers the United Nations Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (see www-ns.iaea.org/conventions/waste-jointconvention.htm ). The third review meeting for the convention was be held in October 2008, at which each country submitted a national report on progress. The IAEA develops safety standards for all nuclear fuel cycle activities, including the management and disposal of radioactive wastes (see www-ns.iaea.org/standards). IAEA is also producing guidance on the security of nuclear facilities (see www-ns.iaea.org/security/nuclear_security_series)
Nuclear Energy Agency – the NEA (part of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) aims to assist its member countries in the management of radioactive wastes by contributing to shared understanding, strategic planning and common regulatory approaches. It has a Radioactive Waste Management Committee to oversee its work programme and several working groups (see www.nea.fr/html/rwm ).
European Commission – the EC has a research programme on the management of radioactive wastes (see ec.europa.eu/research/energy/fi/fi_rt/fi_mg/article_1192_en.htm ). It has also proposed a Directive on the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste (see europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/127048.htm ).