UK: Radioactive waste

A key message of the “19th Annual Report of: The Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee (“RWMAC”) is the need for better explained, justified policies and procedures for the management of the UK’s radioactive waste. The report summarises the work programme that the Government has asked RWMAC to undertake during 1999-2000 which includes: a review of the waste implications of nuclear fuel processing; the plans of nuclear operators for reducing future radioactive discharges to the environment; a study of the options for managing nuclear fuel at Dounreay; and a review of the problems of non-nuclear industry users of radioactive materials (for example, hospitals and research establishments).
(RWMAC, August 1999)

The Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee (RWMAC) has published the advice it gave to the Government when the findings of the House of Lords Select Committee inquiry into Nuclear Waste Management were published earlier this year. The Committee has agreed with the findings in that there is a need to develop a comprehensive, long-term policy for the future management of the UK’s radioactive waste. The Committee has concluded that the development of this policy must be open to a greater degree of public debate than has been the case in the past and to achieve this, the Committee suggests that the Government invite differing views of the issues that need to be addressed, through consensus conferences and consultative groups which can explore the wider public’s views.
(RWMAC, August 1999)

A three-month period of public consultation commenced in August, with the Environment Agency inviting comments on its response to the Atomic Weapons Establishment’s application for revised authorisations under the 1993 Radioactive Substances Act to dispose of radioactive waste from its two sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield. This consultation is the first time the public will be able to voice their opinions about the management of radioactive wastes at AWE.
(EA News Release, 10 August 1999)