News : Growing awareness of talks about a possible underground repository for higher-activity radioactive waste in West Cumbria
A survey has shown that more people are becoming aware of the talks that are taking place about the possibility of
The West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) Partnership commissioned pollsters Ipsos MORI to conduct a survey to find out how much people know about the issue. Nearly 1,300 residents of
In Copeland awareness that ‘the West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely Partnership is talking to the British Government about possibly locating a Geological Disposal Facility somewhere in
Awareness of the discussions has increased from 61% to 71% in Allerdale.
In
The figures also show that more people are getting a better understanding of the issues, with 37% of people in Copeland and 28% of people in Allerdale now saying they think they ‘know a fair amount’ about the discussions.
Robert Morris Eyton, National Farmers Union representative and Partnership member, said: “It is great to see that more people in
“This issue is potentially one of the most important that the county will ever face and the West Cumbria MRWS Partnership is keen for everyone in the area to know more about what is happening.
“We still have some way to go to ensure that not only are most people aware of these discussions but they also have the opportunity to find out as much as possible about them and are able to tell us their thoughts, to help us give the most informed advice to the councils that we can.”
The Partnership completed a three month round of communications and engagement in February. This included newsletters sent to all households in West Cumbria, articles in papers across
Over the next few months, Partnership members will consider all of the information they have received throughout the process, including feedback from members of the public, and produce a draft report of its advice to the councils. Residents of
Although awareness is increasing, the public’s attitude towards the area continuing with the process and having a closer look at potential sites has hardly changed.
In Allerdale 52 per cent of people are in favour of the ‘Partnership recommending that the local councils take the next step in the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely process which would mean starting to identify possible sites for locating a geological disposal facility’ and 25% are opposed. In Copeland 62% per cent are in favour and 19% are opposed.
In Cumbria as a whole, 48% favour going to the next stage in the process and 28% are opposed.
Allerdale Borough Council, Copeland Borough Council and Cumbria County Council have all expressed an interest in finding out more about the Government’s search to find a suitable location to dispose of the national higher-activity radioactive waste in an underground repository, without making any commitment to have it in the area. Even if West Cumbria does agree to take part in the search for a site, the councils can withdraw from the process up until the point where building work would begin – likely to be a decade or more from now.
The West Cumbria MRWS Partnership is made up of all the local authorities in
People can find out more about the Partnership and the issues by visiting its website at www.westcumbriamrws.org.uk. The Partnership also has a Facebook page and people can follow WestCumbriaMRWS on Twitter.
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For media enquiries please contact the Partnership’s communications advisor Paul Gardner or Ian Boydon 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
- 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.