Motions, questions and answers

I am pleased to announce thatthe review by Government (the UK Government and the devolved administrations) of the long-term management of the UK’s solid low level radioactive waste (LLW), has been completedand that the revised policy statement is being published today. Copies of the policystatement will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number42382). Copies are also available on the internet at:</p><p><ahref="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Waste/16293/176481">http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Waste/16293/176481</a>.</p><p>The public consultation on thereview of solid LLW management policy was published on 28 February 2006. Itparallels and complements the on-going work Government is carrying out on the policyfor the management of higher activity radioactive wastes under our Managing RadioactiveWaste Safely programme, following recommendations made by the Committee on RadioactiveWaste Management (CoRWM) in July 2006.</p><p>As I made clear when I announcedthe consultation, unlike the higher activity wastes, paths for the long-term managementand disposal of LLW already exist but we recognised that there were problems whichneeded to be dealt with in that:</p><p>with the Nuclear DecommissioningAuthority (NDA’s) decommissioning and clean-up programme underway, there will begreatly increased arisings of LLW over the coming decades, and this is already startingto happen;</p><p>there will be insufficient capacityat the national LLW disposal facility near Drigg in Cumbria to dealwith this waste, and the future capacity of this facility is currently also underreview;</p><p>while other disposal routes forcertain types of LLW have been used (e.g. by disposal on or near the site of arising,by controlled and uncontrolled burial to landfill and by incineration), the availabilityof these other routes has diminished in recent years, and</p><p>finding small-scale treatmentand disposal routes for the least radioactive LLW, which are very important forthe non-nuclear sectors (hospitals, research and education establishments, and theoil and gas industry) is proving increasingly difficult.</p><p>The revised policy recognisesthat much LLW has very low levels of radioactivity and can be disposed of in a varietyof ways while posing a negligible risk to human health or the environment. The revisedpolicy will:</p><p>allow greater flexibility inthe management of the wide range of LLW that already exists, and will arise in futurefrom the NDA’s activities and other nuclear and non-nuclear industry arisings;</p><p>require the necessary level ofsafety to be maintained through the use of a risk informed approach, and the preparationof plans and safety cases that are acceptable to the regulatory bodies (includingthe Environment Agencies and the Health and Safety Executive);</p><p>seek to minimise the amount ofLLW for disposal by application of the waste hierarchy applied in other areas ofwaste management – avoidance of generation, minimisation, reuse and recycling –prior to disposal;</p><p>emphasise the need for effectiveconsultation and public involvement in the development and delivery of LLW wastemanagement plans;</p><p>make the NDA responsible fordevelopment of a UK-wide strategy for the management of nuclear industry LLW, includingthe identification of the need for additional LLW disposal capacity andfacilities, and</p><p>initiate the first steps towardsdevelopment of a UK-wide strategy for the management of non-nuclear LLW. The firststep in this will be for Government, in conjunction with the NDA, to undertake astudy which will give a clear picture of arisings across the UK.</p><p>The policy has been developedwith stakeholders, including two national stakeholder workshops held during 2005:the first to discuss the key issues; the second to discuss a first draft of theconsultation document which consequently was revised extensively. There were discussionswith stakeholders during the public consultation p