A Working Group would begin discussions about the
potential for hosting a deep geological facility for
the safe and secure disposal of radioactive waste.
The process to find a suitable GDF site requires a
community to give its clear consent.
A GDF is a highly engineered facility constructed
deep underground and will consist of a series of
vaults and tunnels where radioactive waste can be
disposed of safely, securely and permanently.
Steve Reece, Head of Siting at Radioactive Waste
Management, said:
Radioactive Waste Management is in early
discussions with Lincolnshire County Council, to
see if they are interested in joining a local
Working Group. Absolutely no decisions have been
taken at this stage.
Two areas in Cumbria have already started this
process by forming Working Groups and this could be
an important further step for a significant
national infrastructure project to find a location
for a GDF – that’s an underground facility designed
to safely and securely dispose of the UK’s higher
activity radioactive waste.
This is an enormous infrastructure project, worth
billions of pounds – one that would bring thousands
of jobs for multiple generations as well as the
significant investment needed for supporting
infrastructure in the area where a GDF is built.
A GDF would be built up to 1,000 metres in the rock
deep underground and it would contain the waste
safely and isolate it over the very long term,
until the radioactivity naturally decays and no
longer poses a hazard to people or the environment.
In our discussions with Lincolnshire County Council
the former Theddlethorpe gas terminal has been
identified as a possible site of interest, and in
particular the geology deep below the seabed, a few
miles off the coast, as one potential location. We
would like to engage with the local community to
hear their thoughts and views. And we recognise
that there could be other potential locations for
surface facilities that could lead out to the same
geology deep beneath the seabed.
At this very early stage of the process, we’re
explaining the Working With
Communities approach (the government’s policy)
and answering the council’s questions so that they
can see how the siting process could work.
The opportunity remains open for individuals and
organisations in England and Wales to engage in
discussions with RWM - without any commitment.
The process to find a suitable GDF site ultimately
requires a community to give clear consent through
a process called a Test of Public Support - this
project is totally unique in that the local
community will have the final say.
Working Groups, which will engage with local people,
will be announced as they are formed. Two GDF Working
Groups have already been formed in Cumbria.
Learn more
about GDF, the role of a community, and the
benefits.
