Last year, EFoE members took part in the pilot stage of a discussion guide commissioned by CoRWM. Results of the subsequent discussions have now been published.
Around 2800 members of the public, from school students to Parish Councils, have given their views on how the UK should manage its radioactive waste in the long term. The views make up part of the largest programme of public engagement on radioactive waste to date, which is being conducted by the independent Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM). The findings show that most people who participated believed that the most important criteria in choosing a radioactive waste management solution should be the environment, public safety and security.
Community groups from across the UK organised over 550 public discussion events giving people the chance to discuss their concerns over the future of radioactive waste. CoRWM produced a discussion guide to facilitate the events, which set out the background to the issues, along with details of the management options short-listed by the committee.
The committee is due to recommend an option or a combination of options to the Government in July this year. The option preferred by the largest number of groups who took part in this latest public engagement exercise was ‘phased deep geological disposal’ – where the waste is stored deep underground in a rock chamber for up to several hundred years before being sealed off, meaning it is retrievable for many decades should a more effective solution be developed.
The second most popular choice for adult groups was long-term interim storage, whereas many of the young people who participated preferred deep geological disposal.
Most groups felt that it is important to begin managing the waste now, but that the option of being able to switch to new, yet-to-be developed techniques should be left open. [This was EfoE's conclusion.]
Gordon MacKerron, Chair of CoRWM said:
“We are delighted that so many people, of all ages, took time to discuss these important issues, and the feedback we have received will be invaluable in helping us choose among the options over the coming weeks.
“As part of our process, we encourage the public to share their views, which we regard as being as essential as the other strand of our work, which involves technical input from specialists and scientists. The long term future of radioactive waste is something which affects us all, and will affect future generations, and therefore everyone should have the chance to have a say.
“These events form only a part of our public engagement. There will be further engagement in May after we make our draft recommendations, and anyone can let us know their views via the CoRWM website: www.corwm.org.uk ”
Source: CoRWM Press Release