UK’s nuclear waste management project engages public in Lincolnshire

The NWS visited six locations near Theddlethorpe, which is being considered as a potential site for underground radioactive waste storage.

The geological disposal facility (GDF) will house the waste in metal or concrete containers within sealed vaults and tunnels under hundreds of metres of rock.

As part of the search to find a GDF site with suitable geology, NWS has formed four community partnerships in areas it wants to investigate further. These include Mid Copeland, South Copeland and Allerdale in Cumbria and Theddlethorpe in Lincolnshire.

The recent programme of events in and around Theddlethorpe saw the NWS engage with 120 people at different local venues between 3 and 11 August.

The “Big Picture” events were held to give the local community the opportunity to meet the NWS team and to find out more about GDFs.

A team of subject matter experts, including geologists, scientists, policy advisors and engineers, worked with the engagement team on a series of films and Q&A sessions.

People were given the opportunity to ask their questions, raise their concerns and find out more information about geological disposal, what a GDF is and what it could mean for the area.

“These local events were held as part of our ongoing engagement and communications with the public; we were not consulting on a particular topic or seeking an outcome as such,” the NWS said.

It will use the feedback from the events to inform its communications with the local community as it continues to work with them and the community partnerships.

As well as conversations with the community, the programme to build the UK’s first GDF for radioactive waste is moving forward with desk studies and field research.

NWS’ first marine geophysical survey off the coast of Copeland, Cumbria, was carried out in August 2022.

The data acquired in the seismic survey is being processed and will be interpreted, with results expected to be assessed towards the end of 2023, and a further evaluation concluding in 2024.

NWS has also begun a wide range of studies to evaluate the sites that could be suitable to host a GDF. The studies will be conducted over several years to help ensure a GDF can be constructed, operated, and closed safely and securely.

Each potential site will be assessed against a number of siting factors, including safety and security, community, environment, engineering feasibility, transport, geology and value for money.

NWS is the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s waste division and is managing the delivery of the GDF.