Experts seek rapid decision on nuclear waste

The government must make decisions on where it will store stockpiles of radioactive nuclear waste before the next election, a group of independent advisors have urged.

There should also be a new independent body, set up immediately, to oversee responsibility for the disposal of nuclear waste, the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) said.

CoRWM has been tasked with setting out options for managing the waste for which there is no agreed long-term solution.

The issue has moved up the agenda following publication of the energy review, which opened the door to a new generation of civil nuclear power plants.

CoRWM's two and a half year inquiry concluded on Monday with the publication of a report setting out a series of recommendations for ministers on how to tackle the issue.

The committee's package of recommendations calls for, in the long term, disposal of radioactive waste deep underground, as the best available approach in terms of safety and security.

But it says there should be robust interim storage, recognising that the creation of suitable facilities for disposal may take several decades.

There should be an equal partnership between government and potential host communities based on a willingness to participate, the report says.

And an oversight body should be created immediately to begin the process of implementation.

CoRWM chairman Professor Gordon MacKerron said: "The most important single thing for the government to do very soon is to set up a body which would have overseeing responsibilities.

"It would have an independent character. It would build on public trust. It will also need to decide, as soon as it can, on which body would do the implementation of radioactive waste facilities."

MacKerron said the first priority of the body would be to think about how to screen the country for geological unsuitability for radioactive waste disposal.

And it will also need to think about the sort of partnership arrangements that would be necessary to make our proposals work and many of these things could go in parallel, he said.

The committee's remit did not include recommending specific sites. However, it said a process had been set out to determine where any facilities should be located.

And the report adds: "CoRWM takes no position on the desirability or otherwise of nuclear new build. We believe that future decisions on new build should be subject to their own assessment process, including consideration of waste.

"The public assessment process that should apply to any future new build proposals should build on the CoRWM process, and will need to consider a range of issues including the social, political and ethical issues of a deliberate decision to create new nuclear wastes."

The Conservatives dismissed the report, saying "it doesn't get us us any further forward".

Shadow trade and industry secretary Alan Duncan said: "CORWM wants deep burial, but say it is not going to happen for decades.

"The greatest problem is legacy waste from the last 50 years, but if there is to be a new generation of nuclear power stations, the industry - and the public - needs certainty about what would happen to new waste."

The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, said the option of deep burial is the "least bad option".

But environment spokesman Chris Huhne said the report was a warning on the risks of nuclear power.

"If we had known about the dangers and costs of nuclear energy 50 years ago, it is doubtful we would have ever committed to this expensive mistake," Huhne said.

And the SNP said the publication of the report was an opportunity for Scotland's first minister, Jack McConnell, to publicly state whether or not he supports new nuclear power stations in Scotland.

"This is a report that the first minister asked for, and repeatedly hid behind. Now CoRWM have published their findings he must come off the fence about Scotland's nuclear future," SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon said.

"The people of Scotland do not need, nor do they want a new generation of nuclear power, and an SNP government would halt Tony Blair's plans for new nuclear on Scottish soil."