DEEP GEOLOGICAL DISPOSAL OF RADIOACTIVE-WASTE - ASSESSING THE ENVIRONMENTAL-IMPACT

Recent legislation in the UK has highlighted environmental protection as a material consideration in preparing and assessing planning applic ations for large developments. A repository for radioactive waste is a n Annex 1 project under the European Council Directive ont eh effects of certain projects on the environment. An Environmental Statement is therefore mandatory. The Government White Paper, This Common Inheritan ce,1 called for environmental information to be made available to the public, to tell people the facts and to give them the opportunity to m ake their views known. This paper describes the non-nuclear environmen tal studies that Nirex is carrying out in characterizing Sellafield as tis preferred site for a repository. The work is continuing, in paral lel with geological investigations and safety assessments, to assess t he scale and significance of impacts on the local environment and comm unity. This directly supports the company's stated intention of develo ping a Rock Characterization Facility and, if the site continues to sh ow potential by meeting all the long-term safety requriements, a deep underground repository for intermediate-level and long lived low-level radioactive waste. Local authorities and many organizations having an interest in pollution control, conservation, landscape and other envi ronmental matters have been consulted. This shows that Nirex is abidin g by the requirements of This Common Inheritance, by involving the pub lic in the determinations of Sellafield's overall suitability for wast e disposal for the environmental, cultural, social and economic points of view.