News : West Cumbrians to get an update on underground nuclear waste scheme
People living in West Cumbria are about to receive the latest update about the Government’s search for an underground nuclear disposal facility.
Copies of a newsletter from the West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) Partnership will be dropping though letterboxes during the week beginning January 17. Additional copies will also be available to pick up at places like libraries and leisure centres.
Community representatives on the West Cumbria (MRWS) Partnership are considering the issues that would be involved in hosting a geological disposal facility in the area without any commitment to have it here. The community Partnership also organises communications and consultations with stakeholders and members of the public.
The community Partnership is made up of all the local authorities in
The newsletter looks at some of the questions people have been asking during recent meetings organised by the Partnership. This includes information explaining why the Government is looking at disposing of higher activity waste underground and the importance of safety in making a decision about whether the area should take part in the search for a site. Students from a Wigton school also share some of their thoughts about the issues they want to see considered in this process.
There is an article from Professor David Smythe who argues that there is already enough evidence that the region’s geology is unsuitable for an underground repository. Equally, Alun Ellis of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), argues that further tests would need to be conducted to determine the geological suitability of possible sites before we could know whether or not a facility could be built there, and this work could only be carried out if the area decided to take part in the search for a site.
Councillor Elaine Woodburn, the current chair of the Partnership, says: “The West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely Partnership is committed to raising awareness of this critically important process so members of public can help us make the decision about whether or not this area should take part in the Government’s search for somewhere to put a repository for higher activity nuclear waste.
“I hope that the newsletter will help explain some of the things the Partnership is discussing and thinking about in relation to the Government’s search for a geological disposal facility.
“There are many questions that can only be answered by much more detailed studies being carried out and it would only be appropriate to do this work if the area decides to take part in the search for somewhere to put a repository. At this stage we need to decide whether we want to take part in that process and whether we are happy with the way the search for a site would be carried out.
”If we do take part, the community would continue to be involved and the area would have the right to withdraw up until the point when work could start on building a facility, probably more than ten years from now.”
The members of the Partnership meet every six weeks to look at the issues involved and the next meeting is on Wednesday 19th January from 9.00 to 16.00 at the Hundith Hill Hotel, near Cockermouth. The meeting will hear a talk on the ethical issues involved in disposing of radioactive waste deep underground and there will also be presentation on planning issues.
Members of the public are welcome to attend Partnership meetings as observers and are also given an opportunity to ask questions. Anyone who is planning to go to the meeting should contact Sharon.Walker@copeland.gov.uk.
More information about how to get involved is available on the Partnership’s website at www.westcumbriamrws.org.uk. The Partnership also has a Facebook page and you can follow @westcumbriamrws on Twitter.
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For media enquiries please contact the Partnership’s communications advisor Paul Gardner at Osprey Communications on 01524-782086 or 077667906561
- In addition to Allerdale Borough Council, Copeland Borough Council and Cumbria County Council there are a range of other organisations making up the partnership, including Barrow Borough Council, the Nuclear Legacy Advisory Forum), local trade unions, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), Churches Together Council, Eden District Council, South Lakeland District Council, Carlisle City Council, the Lake District National Park Authority, the Cumbria Association of Local Councils, NuLeAF (the Nuclear Legacy in Cumbria, the Chamber of Commerce, Cumbria Tourism and the West Cumbria Sites Stakeholder Group.
- A number of other organisations attend as ‘observing members’ including Government departments, the Isle of Man Government, CoRWM (Committee on Radioactive Waste Management), the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the safety and environment regulators.
- The Government is looking for a community in the UK to volunteer to have a repository. Allerdale Borough Council, Copeland Borough Council and Cumbria County Council decided to take part in early discussions about this process on behalf of West Cumbria because a large amount of the country’s radioactive waste is already stored in the area at Sellafield.
- Taking part in discussions with the Government does not commit the Cumbrian authorities to hosting a deep geological repository and they can withdraw from the process at any point up until a time when construction would begin – estimated to be more than 10 years from now.