[Committee] New Scientist: "Much of UK [geologically] suitable for nuclear waste burial"

[Steve Stretton]

Much of UK suitable for nuclear waste burial

00:01 07 February 2007 
NewScientist.com news service 
Catherine Brahic 

Burying nuclear waste deep underground is UK's best way of dealing with the
materials, and up to two-thirds of the country's landmass could be suitable
for burial sites, says a multi-disciplinary group of scientists. 

"We have a real opportunity to move forward with nuclear waste management,"
said Charles Curtis of Manchester University, ahead of the release of a new
report in London on Wednesday. 

The scientists back the HYPERLINK
"http://http//www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19025503.500-uk-told-to
-bury-nuclear-waste-again.html"2006 conclusions of the Committee on
Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM), and say that there are "no
insurmountable scientific or technological barriers" to building deep
geological repositories for nuclear waste in the UK. 

The CoRWM report concluded that burying nuclear waste 500 to 1000 metres
below ground was the "best available approach" – a recommendation which the
UK government has accepted. Some scientists HYPERLINK
"http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19025503.500-uk-told-to-bury-
nuclear-waste-again.html"had greeted the CoRWM report with scepticism,
saying the committee had taken three years to deliver obvious conclusions.

CoRWM was appointed by the government, but the scientists behind the new
report insist they are completely independent. And they say they go one step
further than CoRWM by laying out a roadmap for what needs to be done next. 


Granite and clay


First on the list, they say, is to draw up a description of what defines a
safe geological repository for nuclear waste. Curtis says the UK government
has yet to adopt a protocol for identifying suitable sites for geological
repositories. 

Alan Hooper, of the government-owned nuclear waste company Nirex, said there
were three types of rock and soil in which nuclear waste could be stored in
the UK: granitic rocks, which only allow water to move through small
fractures in the rock; clay, which also permits little water movement; and
evaporites such as rock salt, which have the advantage of being very stable.

All three were "pretty ubiquitous in the UK", he said, adding that he
expected that at least one-third – and perhaps up to two-thirds – of the UK
landmass could safely house nuclear waste repositories.


Nuclear renaissance


Once the government has identified a number of safe sites, the report
scientists said local communities would have to be consulted to determine
whether they would accept a repository. 

The group identified a number of other questions that must be addressed
before repositories are built. One is whether or not to leave the
repositories open. Closing them would ensure a better containment of the
nuclear waste, but keeping them open would make it easier to monitor the
repository. 

Another issue is the "greying" of their profession. "We are an ageing
population of professionals," said Curtis. He said a "nuclear skills
renaissance" was "absolutely vital".


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