Following the announcement (25th October) by Environment Secretary David Milliband that ‘the responsibility for securing geological disposal of waste should fall to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’, local pressure group CORE has branded the decision as plain stupid and probably unworkable.
The NDA, whose initial remit of clean- up and decommissioning work at nuclear sites around the country was welcomed by most, now adds nuclear waste disposal to a portfolio to which has already been added Sellafield’s commercial reprocessing and MOX fuel business.
CORE spokesperson Martin Forwood said today:
“ The NDA is becoming top heavy with work it was never supposed to do and the vital clean-up work will suffer as a result. Waste disposal is best left to a new independent organisation along the lines suggested by CoRWM – and not in the hands of the NDA whose closeness to the nuclear industry is already ringing alarm bells in some quarters. David Milliband’s ill thought out decision simply bolsters an increasingly incestuous relationship which we believe is neither in the best interest of the taxpayer nor the right platform for waste disposal”.
The winding up of NIREX, after transfer to the NDA, was also announced by Government. Once itself a voice piece for the industry, much criticised NIREX has reformed and become independent since its failed dump exploits of the mid-90’s at Gosforth near Sellafield. In a recent report* NIREX has harsh words to say on the decision to hand waste disposal to the NDA, suggesting that, amongst other things:
• The NDA should remain focused on its clean-up remit without the distraction of other potentially conflicting remits
• Any organisation charged with progressing a repository site must operate independently of the commercial imperatives of the nuclear industry if it is to be credible with its host community, stakeholders and the wider public
• An equal partnership (for volunteer communities when it comes to the economic and environmental impact of a repository) is not possible of the new waste organisation is owned by, or is inside, the nuclear industry or the NDA
• The transfer to the NDA represents a reversal of a specific policy decision made by Government in April 2005 that any new waste organisation must be independent of the industry and the NDA
• The transfer was contrary to an IAEA principle on radioactive waste management that calls for a clear separation of responsibilities between the waste producer/owner, the regulator and the waste disposer.
Martin Forwood added:
“By operating Sellafield’s reprocessing plant, the NDA is a nuclear waste producer – a mantle hard to reconcile with its clean up remit. Its new role as underground waste dumper as well is bound to lead to conflicts of interest and, as the NIREX report suggests, to accusation of ‘done deals’ which could lead to successful legal challenges from NGO’s. CORE has never supported the NDA’s role as waste producer and is wholly opposed to its new role which, with no clear separation of responsibilities, we believe will be unworkable “.
* Creating a New Nuclear Waste Management Organisation (NWMO) to replace NIREX, September 2006, NIREX Ref.516537.