Government accused of nuclear time-waste
Proposals to tackle nuclear waste including blasting it into space are a waste of time and should not be considered by the Government.
That is the conclusion of an inquiry by peers into the UK’s slow progress in developing a coherent radioactive waste management policy.
It is nearly 30 years since the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution first emphasised the need for a long-term solution to storing radioactive waste.
The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee said it was “astonished” that the Government instructed a new advisory body to start from a ‘blank sheet of paper’ when the overwhelming scientific consensus is that underground disposal or storage is a safe solution.
Committee chairman Lord Oxburgh accused ministers of using “perpetual consultation exercises” to put off making the crucial decisions.
Peers conclude that the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management lacks relevant scientific and technical expertise and should stop wasting time considering alternatives to underground storage.
They also said the Government should stop using the failure to develop a long-term radioactive waste management strategy as a reason for delaying a decision on the future of nuclear power.
The Government’s failure to consult the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is criticised and it is urged to appoint new science, material and civil engineering experts to CoRWM.
Lord Oxburgh said: “We are dismayed by the Government’s lack of urgency. The UK has generated radioactive waste for more than half a century and still hasn’t decided how to deal with it. Ministers seem to be using perpetual consultation exercises to put off making the crucial decisions.”
Responding to the report, the Environment Minister Elliot Morley completely rejected any suggestion that the Government was dithering.
He said: “There is a danger the Select Committee is ignoring the mistakes of the past, when there was narrowly based scientific committees and inadequate consultation.”
Defending his decision to set up CoRWM, Mr Morley said that he felt it was important to get as wide range of views as possible, saying: “Involvement of the public and being able to account for decisions are an increasing requirement of Government. The lack of such involvement has been a key contributor to the failure of previous programmes. The old ‘decide-announce-defend’ approach is unacceptable.
“We cannot simply rely on what other countries see as the right solution: we must consider, and be able to demonstrate, what is right for the UK
“It is not acceptable to conclude without full public consultation or a review of all scientific options that deep disposal is automatically the best option, as the Select Committee appears to have done.”
