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The Welsh Government is asking for views on its policy for the disposal of higher activity radioactive waste.

The Minister for Natural Resources, Carl Sargeant AM, is publishing a consultation paper on the disposal of higher activity radioactive waste, and is seeking views on the review of current Welsh Government policy, its preferred options for policy in the future and on what other options it might consider.

The Welsh Government is required by the EU to report on its policy for the safe and responsible management of radioactive waste by summer 2015. Ahead of this date the Welsh Government is keen to ensure that its policy remains relevant and reflects changing circumstances.

The UK has accumulated a substantial amount of higher activity radioactive waste over the last 60 years following military nuclear programmes, electricity generation in nuclear power stations and the use of radioactive materials in industry, medicine and research.

Further to this, the decision by the UK Government to build a new generation of nuclear power stations will result in additional volumes of radioactive waste that will need to be safely disposed of.

The Welsh Government supports new nuclear power stations on existing sites in Wales such as at Wylfa Newydd, which will provide a constant low carbon energy source to complement the range of renewable energy developments in Wales.
While the UK Government has supported a policy of geological disposal for the management of radioactive waste since 2008, the Welsh Government has neither supported nor opposed this policy.

The Welsh Government is now seeking views on its radioactive waste disposal policy to ensure it remains relevant and reflects changing circumstances.
However the Minister for Natural Resources has emphasised that no final decision to change current Welsh Government policy has been made. He also stressed that any change in policy would not necessarily result in a disposal facility being built in Wales.

The building of any disposal facility, in Wales or in England, would be dependent on a host community being prepared to come forward voluntarily to discuss potentially hosting a geological disposal facility.  Those discussions could last for over a decade before the community would be asked to consider taking a final decision, and during which time the community would be able to withdraw at any time.  Even with the current Welsh Government policy a community in Wales could seek to open discussions about potentially hosting a geological disposal facility.

Plans for any potential disposal facility in Wales would also depend on the approval of a detailed safety case by Natural Resources Wales and the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

Carl Sargeant said:

“Having taken into account responses to the call for evidence issued last April, and other evidence available, I have decided to take forward a full policy review about the disposal of higher activity radioactive waste (HAW).  This review will be done in an open and transparent way and as a first step we are consulting on the principle of whether the Welsh Government should adopt a policy for the disposal of HAW and if so whether geological disposal should be the means of disposal.

“I want to reassure people that, although the Welsh Government has issued this consultation with preferred options, we taken no final decisions, and we want anyone with a view to contribute feed into the process.

“I also want to emphasise that, following this consultation, even if the Welsh Government does decide to adopt a policy involving geological disposal of HAW this would not necessarily result in radioactive waste being disposed of in Wales or indeed in any other part of the UK.  Any future disposal facility would depend on a host community voluntarily coming forward to open discussions.”

The Welsh Government has issued this consultation with preferred options of adopting a policy for the disposal of higher activity radioactive waste and for geological disposal to be the long term management route for HAW.  However the Welsh Government has taken no final decisions about these preferred options and is seeking views about these issues and about other options for the future management of HAW.

The consultation will be open until 22 January and is available to view on the Welsh Government website.

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