Archived press release

No early solution to nuclear waste, interim steps needed quickly

31 July 2006

The Government need to urgently implement interim measures to ensure nuclear waste is stored safely while investigating longer term measures to deal with the problem, Friends of the Earth warned today. The move comes as Government advisors published a report which concludes that a deep geological nuclear waste dump might take100 years to approve and construct.

The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM), the Government's nuclear waste advisors final report on securing the long-term safety of Britain's highly dangerous nuclear waste recommended that Britain's nuclear waste should be buried deep underground: an option known as deep geological disposal. However:

CoRWM's Chairman, Gordon Mackerron says it could take 100 years for a deep geological facility to be approved and built.

No site for such a facility has yet been identified

Experts have warned that, if buried, waste is likely to leak from its containers within 500 years [2].

Friends of the Earth remains opposed to deep geological disposal as it has yet to be shown that leaking waste will not contaminate the environment.

The Government's failure to find a long-term solution to Britain's nuclear waste problem remains an important reason not to create more waste by building more nuclear reactors.

Friends of the Earth's campaigns coordinator, Roger Higman said:

"This is little more of a solution to the problem of nuclear waste than we've had for the last 30 years. There is no site and it could be 100 years before any facility is approved and built - even if a safe site could be found. Urgent action therefore is needed to ensure Britain's waste mountain is stored safely in the interim while the longer-term issues are investigated."

Notes

[1] CoRWM

[2] The Environment Agency has warned that "there appears to be insufficient justification for assuming that waste packages will last for a target period of 500 years". See CoRWM paper 1676 Longevity of waste packages and reworking of waste packages.

www.corwm.org/pdf%5C1676%20-%20packaging%20of%20waste%20%20fw%20v1,%204%20april%2006.pdf (PDF)

Friends of the Earth's nuclear briefing is at:

www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/nuclear_power_energy_review.pdf (PDF)

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust