County in debate on N-waste; Council wants to stay in loop.Byline: Tony Henderson Environment Editor CUMBRIA County Council is to make an "expression of interest" in Government plans to find a location for a deep geological nuclear waste repository in the UK. The decision by the council's cabinet allows the local authority to discuss with the Government the best solution for disposing of higher level radioactive waste, but does not involve any commitment that Cumbria will eventually host a repository. It also enables the county council to take full part in the debate on whether West Cumbria would be a suitable location for a repository. Around 70% of the country's higher level nuclear waste is already stored at Sellafield in Cumbria and the area is at the heart of Britain's nuclear industry. The decision follows a "soundings" process carried out by the council, in which 23 out of 35 town and parish councils supported the expression of interest option. Tim Knowles, Cumbria County Council's cabinet member responsible for nuclear issues, said: "The decision doesn't involve any commitments but it does formally bring Cumbria County Council to the table. "It ensures that any decision on whether Cumbria is the right place for a deep geological repository The deep geological repository concept involves the encapsulation of used nuclear fuel in long-lived engineered casks which are then placed and sealed within excavated rooms in a naturally occurring geological formation at a design depth of 500 to 1000 metres below ground surface. will take on board views of the democratic body representing everyone in Cumbria. "We're a long way from deciding whether Cumbria is the right place to store nuclear waste deep underground and there's a huge amount of detail still required on what community support packages are acceptable, long-term environmental safety and potential site locations. "We have the right to withdraw from the siting process at any time before a firm decision is made and this will be a long, meticulous me·tic·u·lous adj. 1. Extremely careful and precise. 2. Extremely or excessively concerned with details. [From Latin met process." The current provisional Temporary; not permanent. Tentative, contingent, preliminary. A provisional civil service appointment is a temporary position that fills a vacancy until a test can be properly administered and statutory requirements can be fulfilled to make a permanent appointment. timeframe laid out by the Government is to identify two candidate sites by April 2012, investigate sites between 2014-2015, announce the preferred site by 2025, put the first nuclear waste in by 2040, put the first spent nuclear fuel Spent nuclear fuel, occasionally called used nuclear fuel, is nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor (usually at a nuclear power plant) to the point where it is no longer useful in sustaining a nuclear reaction. in by 2075 and close the repository by 2128. |
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