News : Fact-finding repository visit for West Cumbria MRWS Partnership members
A fact-finding visit is taking place next week to help community representatives from
Members of the West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) Partnership will visit a research facility in
As part of the trip, Partnership members will visit the Meuse/Haute-Marne underground research laboratory near Bure in
The Partnership members will also meet with community leaders, and representatives from Andra – the French national radioactive waste management agency.
As part of the trip, Partnership members are keen to gain a better understanding of:
• What an underground facility might look like and how it would operate
• How the local community feel about the planned facility
• The French experience of and approach to community benefits
Earlier this year the Partnership also had a video link-up to the United States Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, an underground repository where military radioactive waste is sent for disposal.
Alan Smith, leader of Allerdale Borough Council and the current chairman of the West Cumbria MRWS Partnership, said: “The Partnership is examining all of the issues relating to the potential geological disposal of radioactive waste. It is important that members of the Partnership are fully aware of work that is taking place elsewhere globally.
"We know that geological disposal is the preferred method of managing radioactive waste in many other countries, but we need to see why that is the case, how this is being developed and what the implications of this might be for the people of
The trip, which will involve eight members of the Partnership, is being paid for by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) as part of the Government’s package of funding to allow the Partnership to research issues relating to potentially taking part in the search for somewhere to locate a geological disposal facility for higher-activity radioactive waste in West Cumbria.
The Partnership is currently working on a consultation document and will then launch it's third stage of public and stakeholder engagement to find out what local people think.
Once the public and stakeholders have given their views, a final report will be presented by the Partnership to the three local authorities (Allerdale Borough Council, Copeland Borough Council, Cumbria County Council) that have expressed an interest in learning more about the Government’s search for a suitable location.
This report will help the authorities to make an informed decision on whether or not to take part in the search for somewhere to locate a repository. If the councils decide to continue in the process they can still choose to withdraw at any point up until building work is due to begin – which is likely to be more than a decade from now.
More information is available by visiting the Partnership’s website atwww.westcumbriamrws.org.uk. The Partnership also has a Facebook page, a LinkedIn group 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 or077667906561
1. 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 and Cumbria Tourism.
2. 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.
3. The Government is looking for a community in the
4. 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.