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Insight - Stakeholder Newsletter
Insight Newsletter - Edition 3 (3Mb)
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Useful Links
We have categorised the useful links available to you. Please click on the links below to see the related lists of links to useful websites.
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Links to British Nuclear Industry Websites
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Website |
Description |
|---|---|
| British Energy |
British Energy are the UK's only private sector power generation company. They own and manage the UK's AGR (Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor) and PWR (Pressurised Water Reactor) power stations. |
|
British Nuclear Energy Society (BNES) |
The society was established in the 1960's to provide information and education on nuclear issues. BNES contribute to the public debate on the use of nuclear energy. |
|
Clearance and Exemption Working Group (CEWG) |
The Clearance and Exemption Working Group (CEWG) is a nuclear industry working group that aims to:
|
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National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) |
The National Nuclear Laboratory provides technology services and solutions across the nuclear fuel cycle. It plays a key role in the UK and global nuclear industry by helping to reduce the cost of clean-up and decommissioning, maintaining critical skills, attracting new people to the industry, and working with NNLs around the world. |
|
Nuclear Industry Association |
The NIA is a trade association providing information, acting as a representative body and a forum for its 96 member companies from the British civil nuclear industry. |
|
UKAEA |
UKAEA are a Non-Departmental Government Body who have a historic role in Nuclear Research. They conducted pioneering research into Nuclear Energy between the 1940's and 1960's. Under contract to the NDA they are managing the clean-up of four sites. UKAEA also manage the nuclear research programme and Fusion Research in the UK (Joint European Torus - JET at Culham). |
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URENCO Ltd |
The Urenco Group enrich uranium for use in nuclear fuel and develop centrifuge technology. It is a consortium overseen by the British, Dutch and German Governments. Urenco Ltd is the UK registered holding company for the group. |
| Westinghouse Electric Company |
Westinghouse Electric Company provides fuel, services, technology, plant design and equipment to utility and industrial customers in the world wide commercial nuclear electric power industry. It has a contract with the NDA for the management of the NDA site at Springfields. |
| AEAC | United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary, the former name for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC). |
| AGR | Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor - A term used for the second generation of British Power Reactors, now operated by British Energy. The fuel used in the reactor is slightly enriched uranium oxide clad in stainless steel. The coolant is carbon dioxide and the moderator is graphite. The Fuel is Manufactured by Westinghouse ltd at Springfields and Reprocessed in THORP. |
| ALARA | As Low As Reasonably Achievable. The ALARA principle is contained in the Euratom Basic Safety Standards Directive 96.29, which is transposed into UK Law. Essentially, it means that all reasonable steps should be taken to protect people. In making judgement, factors such as the costs involved in taking protection measures are weighted against benefits obtained, including the reduction in risks to people. |
| Annual Plan | The scope, cost and schedule information from the second year of the Near Term Work Plan (NTWP) are the basis for the Annual Plan |
| AWE | Atomic Weapons Establishment. AWE is operated by a Site Licence Company (AWE plc) managed by a contractor. The contractor is currently run by a consortium of BNFL, Serco and Lockheed Martin (AWE Management Ltd). The Consortium was appointed by the MoD after a competitive tender. |
| AWVR | Active Waste Vaults Recovery |
| Barrow-in-Furness (Cumbria) | Site of the harbour for the Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited (PNTL) Ships, these are owned and operated by BNFL. |
| BDP | Baseline Decommissioning Plan |
| BE | British Energy PLC. British Energy is the current Site Licensee for the AGR & PWR second-generation power stations in the United Kingdom. |
| Berkeley (Glos.) | Site of a closed Magnox power station (two reactors) and of the Berkeley Centre. The facilities of the Centre include high active cells, active chemistry laboratories, radiological instrumentation cells, specialist materials, graphite and rector coolant laboratories. |
| BNFL | British Nuclear Fuels Plc, the former site licence company for Magnox Power Stations, Sellafield and waste facilities. The company has created British Nuclear Group to act as the parent company to Magnox Power Stations, Sellafield and waste facilities. |
| BNFL Instruments | A subsidiary of BNFL that is one of the world's leading providers of instrumentation and services for the measurement and characterisation of radioactive materials. |
| BNFL UAM | Uranium Assets Management Co Ltd provides uranium contract management services including uranic procurement on behalf of BNFL. |
| BNG | See British Nuclear Group details below. |
| BPEO | Best Practicable Environmental Option. The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) 12th Report (1988) proposed a formal defintion and procedure for BPEO: "the outcome of a systematic and consultative decision-making procedure...the option that provides the most benefit and the least damage to the environment [across air, water and land] as a whole, at acceptable cost, in the long term as well as in the short term". |
| BPM | Best Practicable Means. BPM is a term used by the Environment Agency and Scottish Environment Protection Agency in authorisations issued under the Radioactive Substances Act. Essentially, it requires operators to take all reasonably practicable measures in the design and operational management of their facilities to minimise waste creation, abating discharges, and monitoring plant discharges and the environment. It takes account of such factors as the availability and cost of relevant measures, operator safety and the benefits of reduced discharges and disposals. If the operator is using BPM, radiation risks to the public and the environment will be As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA). |
| Bradwell (Essex) | Site of a Magnox power station (two reactors) that operated from 1962 - May 2002 |
| British Nuclear Group | British Nuclear Group was created by BNFL in 2004 to manage its Magnox power stations, Sellafield and Decommissioning work within the UK. British Nuclear Group is currently the Parent Company for Sellafield and all Magnox Power Station Site Licence Companies in the UK. |
| Calder Hall (Cumbria) | A Magnox power station (Four reactors) within the Sellafield Site that started operating in 1956. It was the world's first fully commercial nuclear power plant and remains the UK's longest operating nuclear power plant. The Plant ceased operation in March 2003 and is currently being De-fuelled. |
| Capenhurst (Cheshire) | A site which originally housed a diffusion plant, ceased operation in 1982. The site now focuses on the decommissioning and storage of uranic materials. Capenhurst is also home to the first commercial scale centrifuge plant for the enrichment of uranium. |
| CASE | Caithness & Sutherland Enterprise. The task of Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (CASE) is to unlock the regional potential and help create a strong, diverse and sustainable economy where quality of life is matched by quality of opportunity. |
| Chapelcross (Dumfreshire) | Site of an operating Magnox power station (four reactors) that opened in 1959. This site ceased operations in March 2005 when it began the decommissioning and clean up process. |
| Clean-up | Clean-up is the term we use in conjunction with Decommissioning. Once a nuclear power station has been decommissioned the site needs to be cleaned-up to remove any possible contamination. The site is then returned to either a green or brown field site (this is done with consultation from the local communities). |
| CNC | Civil Nuclear Constabulary, the new police force created on the 1st April 2005 from UKAEAC. The CNC are charged with policing the Civil Nuclear establishments in the United Kingdom. |
| CoRWM | Committee on Radioactive Waste Management. The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) is an independent committee appointed by the UK Government. Their task is to review the options for managing those UK radioactive wastes for which there is no agreed long-term solution. |
| COSR | Continued Operation Safety Report |
| CRP | Caesium Removal Plant |
| Culham (Oxfordshire) | The UK Centre for research into nuclear Fusion and home of JET (Joint European Torus), Europe's flagship fusion research project. Since January 2000 JET has been operated by UKAEA on behalf of Euratom. The NDA will be responsible for decommissioning the site when JET closes. Also based at Culham are the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and a number of external tenants. A nuclear site licence does not cover the site. |
| CWBS | Contractor Work Breakdown Structure |
| Decommissioning | This is the process whereby a nuclear facility, at the end of its economic life, is taken permanently out of service. |
| Decontamination | Removal or reduction of radioactive contamination |
| DEFRA | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. |
| DEVA | A Subsidiary of BNFL that manufactures waste drums and associated equipment. |
| DFR | Dounreay Fast Reactor |
| Disposal | In the context of solid waste, disposal is the emplacement of waste in a suitable facility without intent to retrieve it at a later date. Retrieval may be possible but, if intended, the appropriate term is storage. Disposal may also refer to the release of airborne or liquid waste to the environment (i.e. emissions and discharges). |
| DMTR | Dounreay Materials Test Reactor |
| Dounreay (Caithness) | Located on the far north coast of Scotland, the site was established on a former naval base as the centre for UK fast reactor research. It is now engaged in a major decommissioning and site restoration programme to deal with the legacy of past operations. Over half of UKAEA liabilities are located at Dounreay. |
| DPAG | Dounreay Particles Advisory Group |
| DRS | Direct Rail Services Limited. A subsidiary of the NDA, which provides rail transport services for nuclear materials in the UK. |
| DTI | Department of Trade and Industry. |
| DfT | Department for Transport |
| Dungeness A (Kent) | Site operating Magnox Power Station (Two reactors) that opened in 1965. |
| EIAD | Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning |
| EDF | Electricité de France |
| EFDA | European Fusion Development Agreement |
| Environment Agency | The Environment Agency's role is the enforcement of specified laws and regulations aimed at protecting the environment, in the context of sustainable development predominantly by authorising and controlling radioactive discharges and waste disposals to air, water (surface water, ground water) and land. In addition to authorisation issued under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993, the Environment Agency also regulates nuclear sites under the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations and issues consents for non-radioactive discharges. The equivalent body in Scotland is the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). |
| Environmental Information Regulations | The Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) work in a similar way to the Freedom of Information Act. They allow access to environmental information held by public authorities and bodies carrying out a public function. |
| ESTL | Energy, Sales and Trading Ltd |
| Euratom | Within the European Union, nuclear matters are the subject of a separate treaty dating from 1957. This established the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC) or EURATOM, which was set up to encourage progress in the field of nuclear energy. |
| European Commission (EC) | The European Commission is a politically independent collegial institution which embodies and defends the general interests of the European Union. |
| EU | European Union |
| Fellside Heat And Power Ltd | The company, which produces electricity through combined heat and power has a capacity of 170MW, of which 24-26MW goes to the Sellafield site and the remaining 142-146MW goes to the National Grid. It is situated just outside the licensed site at Sellafield. |
| Fuel / Nuclear Fuel | Material containing fissile nuclides, which, in a reactor, produce the neutrons necessary to sustain a neutron chain reaction. |
| Freedom Of Information Act | The Freedom of Information Act came into force on the 1st of January 2005. The Act gives people the right to request information held by or on behalf of public bodies. |
| Harwell (Oxfordshire) | A former RAF base which was the UK's first centre for nuclear research and development. It now houses a number of redundant research facilities, including low energy reactors and materials testing reactors. Decommissioning is well advanced. Roughly half the land is subject to a nuclear licence. The remainder, separated by a security fence is unlicensed. UKAEA's headquarters are located at Harwell, and the site is being progressively restored and transformed into a science and technology business park - Harwell International Business Centre. |
| HEU | Highly Enriched Uranium |
| Health and Safety Executive (HSE) | A statutory body whose role is the enforcement of work related health and safety law under the general direction of the Health and Safety Commission established by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. HSE is the licensing authority for nuclear installations. The Nuclear Safety Directorate of HSE exercises this delegated authority through the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate who are responsible for regulating the nuclear, radiological and industrial safety of nuclear instillations UK wide. |
| HIE | The task of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) network is to unlock regional potential and help create a strong, diverse and sustainable economy. |
| High Level Waste (HLW) | HLW is heat-generating waste that has accumulated since the early 1950's at Sellafield and Dounreay, primarily from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. The temperature in HLW may rise significantly, this factor has to be taken into account when designing storage or disposal facilities. |
| Hinkley Point A (Somerset) | A closed Magnox power station (two reactors) that operated from 1965 to 2000 |
| HSC and HSE | Britain's Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are responsible for the regulation of almost all the risks to health and safety arising from work activity in Britain. |
| HSSE | Health, Safety, Security & Environmental |
| Hunterston A(Ayrshire) | A closed Magnox power station (two reactors) that operated from 1964 to 1990 |
| IAEA | International Atomic Energy Agency |
| Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) | Waste with radioactivity levels exceeding the upper boundaries for Low Level Waste (LLW), but which do not need heating to be taken into account in the design of storage or disposal facilities. ILW arises mainly from the reprocessing of spent fuel, and from general operations and maintenance of radioactive plant. The major components of ILW are metals and organic materials, with smaller quantities of cement, graphite, glass and ceramics. |
| INSA | Independent Nuclear Safety Assessment |
| IPR | Intellectual Property Rights |
| ISO | International Standards Organisation |
| IWS/IWPS | Industry-wide Pension Scheme |
| IWS | Integrated Waste Strategy |
| JET | The Joint European Torus fusion research project based at Culham and operated by UKAEA on behalf of Euratom. |
| KPI's | Key Performance Indicators. These are performance targets written into contracts against which actual performance is measured. In the NDA's case, we will agree KPI's with site operators that will include progress made in clean-up work, as well as performance against safety, security and environmental criterion. |
| Liabilities | The costs involved in decommissioning; the processing, long term management, storage and final disposal of waste materials and spent fuel; and the environmental remediation of nuclear sites. |
| Life Cycle Baseline (LCBL) | The LCBL is the long-range plan that defines the scope, cost and schedule to clean up each site to its final end state. |
| Low Level Waste (LLW) | LLW includes metals, soil, building rubble and organic materials, which arise principally as lightly contaminated miscellaneous scrap. Metals are mostly in the form of redundant equipment. Organic materials are mainly in the form of paper towels, clothing and laboratory equipment that have been used in areas where radioactive materials are used - such as hospitals, research establishments and industry. |
| LLWR | Low Level Waste Repository (LLWR) sites near Drigg in Cumbria. The site is operated by British Nuclear Group. |
| LTP | Lifetime Plan. Description of all the activities required to take a site from its current position to an assumed or agreed end state,including site summary, category summaries, Lifecycle Baseline and Near Term Work Plan, detail volumes, long range plan graphic. Whilst the above focus on the scope, schedule and costs of the activities on each site, the Lifetime Plan also contains supplementary information of a generic, or site-wide nature. This can include Technical Baselines, Process Wiring Diagrams, Skills and Research and Development Requirements, Integrated Waste Strategy, Regulatory Schedules etc. Lifetime plans are produced by each site contractor and are submitted to the NDA on an annual basis. |
| LWR | Light Water Reactor. A reactor that uses natural water as a moderator and coolant, and low-enriched uranium as fuel. The most common type of power reactor currently in use. Must be shutdown to change fuel. |
| M&O | Management and Operations |
| Magnox | The Magnesium alloy used as a cladding material in Magnox type reactors. |
| Magnox Reactor | A term for the first generation of British power reactors (at Berkeley, Bradwell, Calder Hall, Chapelcross, Dungeness A, Hinkley Point A, Hunterston A, Oldbury, Sizewell A, Trawsfynydd and Wylfa) from the use of "Magnox" as the Cladding Material. |
| MDU | Magnox Depleted Uranium (trioxide) |
| MoD | Ministry of Defence |
| MoU | Memoranda of Understanding; documents that outline formal agreements between two parties. |
| MOX | Mixed Oxide fuel, made up of around 95% uranium and 5% plutonium. |
| MRWS | Managing Radioactive Waste Safely. The name given to a consultation paper published in 2001 addressing future requirements for safe radioactive waste management. It set out a programme to review the options for management of solid radioactive waste and decide on a strategy for long-term protection. |
| MSP | Member of the Scottish Parliament |
| NAO | National Audit Office |
| Near Term Work Plan (NTWP) | The function of the NTWP is to provide a plan in sufficient detail for use by the sites to perform and manage the work and a is a basis for the Annual Plan. As such the NTWP is the first three years of the LCBL. |
| NDA | Nuclear Decommissioning Authority |
| NDPB | Non-Departmental Public Body. A body which has a role in the process of national Government, but is not a government department or part of one, and which accordingly operates to a greater or lesser extent at arm's length from Ministers. More simply, this means a national or regional public body, operating independently of Ministers, but for which Ministers are ultimately responsible. |
| Neutrons | Produced by the splitting, or fissioning of certain atoms inside a nuclear reactor. Neutron radiation is very penetrating so water and concrete are therefore used as protection against it. |
| NGO | Non-Governmental Organisation |
| NII | Nuclear Installations Inspectorate |
| NIREX | The Company established to manage the long-term disposal of ILW arising from nuclear waste management and decommissioning. |
| NLF | Nuclear Liabilities Fund |
| NLFA | Nuclear Liabilities Funding Agreement |
| NLIP | Nuclear Liabilities Investment Portfolio. Investment assets in BNFL's balance sheet set aside for the discharge of future nuclear liabilities. This will be transferred over time to fund the NDA's decommissioning work. |
| NNA | National Nuclear Archive |
| NNARCS | National Nuclear Radio Communication System |
| NNIRF | National NDA Industry and Regulators Forum |
| NNR | National Nature Reserve |
| NRA | National Rivers Authority |
| NSC | Nuclear Safety Committee |
| NSG | National Stakeholder Group |
| NTWP | Near Term Work Plan |
| Nuclear Liabilities Directorate (NLD) | Is the directorate within the DTI responsible for the corporate governance of the NDA and for the DTI's interest in radioactive waste policy and decommissioning policy in the UK. |
| NWDA | The Northwest Regional Development Agency is responsible for the sustainable economic development and regeneration of England's Northwest and has 5 key priorities: Business Development, Regeneration, Skills & Employment, Infrastructure and Image. |
| OCPA | Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. |
| Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) | An autonomous DTI unit which regulates security arrangements in the civil nuclear industry, including security of nuclear material in transit, exercising statutory powers on behalf of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. This is primarily in order to protect against the threats of terrorism and nuclear proliferation. |
| OESC | Operational Environment Safety Case |
| OGC | Office of Government Commerce (OGC) works with public sector organisations to help them improve their efficiency, gain better value for money from their commercial activities and deliver improved success from programmes and projects. |
| OJEU | Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). All procurement in the public sector is subject to EC Treaty principles of non-discrimination, equal treatment and transparency. The EC Public Procurement Directives require contracting authorities, such as NDA, to provide details of procurements in a prescribed format, which are then published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). |
| Oldbury (Glos) | A Magnox power station (two reactors) that started operation in 1967. |
| OSPAR | The Oslo-Paris convention, which established requirements on the level of nuclear and non-nuclear, discharges to the marine environment of the North East Atlantic, the North Sea and the Irish Sea. |
| PBI | Performance Base Indicators |
| PCM | Plutonium Contaminated Materials |
| PCSC | Post-Closure Safety Case |
| PFI | Public Finance Initiative. PFI allows the public sector to contract with the private sector to provide quality services on a long-term basis, so as to take advantage of private sector management skills incentivised by having private finance at risk. |
| PFR | Prototype Fast Reactor |
| PNTL | Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited. A subsidiary of BNFL that operates a fleet of purpose built ships capable of carrying all categories of nuclear material. |
| POCO | Post Operational Clean Out. The first stage in preparing plant for care and maintenance after operations have ceased. |
| PPP | Public Private Partnership |
| PSA | Public Service Agreement |
| PWG | Prioritisation Working Group |
| PWR | Pressurised Water Reactor - a reactor whose primary coolant is maintained under such a pressure that no bulk boiling occurs. The reactor uses water as a moderator or as a coolant. In the UK, Sizewell B is one such reactor operated by British Energy. |
| R&D | Research and Development |
| RAMSAR | A wetland of international importance under the RAMSAR convention |
| Radioactive Half-Life | The time required for one half of the atoms of a particular radionuclide to disintegrate. Each radionuclide has a unique half-life |
| Radioactive Waste | Any material contaminated by or incorporating radioactivity above thresholds defined in legislation is known as radioactive waste. |
| RCEP | Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. |
| RDA | Regional Development Agency |
| Reactor Core | The part of a nuclear reactor, which contains the fuel elements. |
| Reactor Pressure Vessel | A reactor vessel designed to withstand a substantial operating pressure. |
| Reprocessing | The removal of the metal casing from around the fuel and dissolving the fuel in hot, concentrated nitric acid. The uranium, plutonium and waste, which are dissolved in this way, are then separated from each other using several chemical processes. In the UK this work is carried out at Sellafield. |
| RHILW | Remote Handled Intermediate Level Waste |
| Risley (Cheshire) | Home to BNFL's Headquarters. A core team of UKAEA safety management and project planning staff are also based at Risley. The site was originally owned by UKAEA and set up as a centre for reactor engineering. It was sold to a development company in 1998. |
| SAC | Special Area for Conservation |
| Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) | The Scottish equivalent of the Environment Agency. |
| SEA | Strategic Environmental Assessment |
| Sealed Source | A 'Sealed Source' is a device in which a radioactive material has been contained within an outer casing. This outer casing makes an accidental release of the contents extremely unlikely. Sealed sources have an extensive range of medical, educational and industrial uses, notably in general diagnosis and cancer treatments, and in the oil and gas industries. |
| Sellafield (Cumbria) | Home to nuclear reprocessing operations, as well as waste management and fuel recycling operations. The site was opened in 1947. |
| SFS | Spent Fuel Services |
| SGHWR | Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor |
| Sizewell A (Suffolk) | Site of a Magnox power station (two reactors) that operated since 1966 |
| SLC | Site Licence Company. Parent organisation(s) bid to own the Site Licence Company (SLC). The Parent organisation may form a holding company to hold the shares. This holding company would have no management function. As part of the bid, the parent(s) would negotiate a contract between the SLC and the NDA. SLC = Contractor On winning, the parent organisation(s) would appoint the board of the SLC and cause it to enter into the negotiated contract. |
| SMP | The Sellafield MOX Plant. |
| SPA | Special Protection Area |
| Spent Fuel | Spent nuclear fuel is fuel removed from a reactor after final use. The main commercial UK fuels are Magnox, AGR and PWR. Typically, spent fuel is made up of approximately 96% un-reacted uranium, 1% plutonium, and 3% waste products. The precise composition depends largely on the type of reactor and the amount of power produced by the fuel. |
| Springfields (Lancs.) | Home of the UK's Fuel manufacturing operations since 1946. |
| SSSI | Site of Special Scientific Interest |
| Storage | Is the emplacement of waste in a suitable facility with the intent to retrieve it at a later date. |
| THORP | Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant. |
| Thurso (Caithness) | NDA Region 4 staff are located in an office in Thurso, a few miles east of Dounreay. |
| Trawsfynydd (Gwynedd) | Site of a Magnox power station (two reactors) that operated from 1965 to 1993. This station is the only one not built on the coast. A lake provided its water supplies. |
| TILWSP | Transportable Intermediate Level Waste Solidification Plant. |
| TNA | The National Archive |
| TUPE | Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations. These provide for terms and conditions to be protected upon transfer as a matter of law. This will cover severance pay, early retirement following redundancy and injury benefits. |
| UHI | University of the Highlands and Islands |
| UKAEA | United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority |
| UKGAAP | UK General Accepted Accounting Practices |
| Urenco | A Uranium enrichment business, based at Marlow in Buckinghamshire. |
| VWHLW | Vitrified High Level Waste |
| Very Low Level Waste (VLLW) | Covers wastes with very low concentrations of radioactivity. This waste arises from a variety of sources, including hospitals and the wider non-nuclear industry. Because VLLW contains little total radioactivity, it has been safely treated as it has arisen by various means, such as disposal with domestic refuse directly at landfill sites or indirectly after incineration. |
| VRR | Vitrified Residue Return |
| WAGR | Windscale Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor |
| WANO | World Association of Nuclear Operators |
| Westinghouse | Provides fuel, services, technology, plant design and equipment to utility and industrial customers around the world. Westinghouse are the Parent Company for Springfields. |
| Westlakes | A Science park that aims to stimulate the knowledge base in West Cumbria thereby contributing to its economic regeneration and sustainability. It is also the location of the NDA's headquarters. |
| Windscale (Cumbria) | A small enclave located within the Sellafield site and is the focus for two important nuclear decommissioning projects - the Windscale Piles and the prototype Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor. |
| Winfrith (Dorset) | Created as a centre for prototype reactor development in the 1960's. It houses a number of redundant prototype reactors, including the Steam Generating Heavy Water reactor. The site is on the fast track for decommissioning and site restoration. Winfrith Technology Centre is being developed as a focus for business development in Dorset. |
| WTP | Waste Treatment Plant |
| Wylfa (Gwynedd) | Site of a Magnox power station (two reactors) that commenced operation in 1971. |
Links to Independent Advisory Body Websites
| Website | Description |
|---|---|
| Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) | This committee has been created by the government to review options for managing solid radioactive waste in the UK. They are looking at the long-term best action, whilst providing protection for the public and the environment. |
| COMARE | COMARE are an independent expert advisory committee made up of medical and scientific experts. They advise Government departments on Medical and Scientific matters. |
| National Radiological Protection Board | The board was created by the Radiological Protection Act 1970, it provides independent and authorities advice on radiation protection. |
| Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee (RWMAC) | The RWMAC advised the government on the management of radioactive waste. The Committee was created in response to a recommendation of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution's Sixth Report on Nuclear Power and the Environment. |
Links to Government Websites
| Website | Description |
|---|---|
| Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) - formerly Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)
| DBERR lead the way on the nuclear industry, energy policy and the historic legacy in the UK. |
| Scottish Executive | The Scottish Executive is the devolved government for Scotland. |
| Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
| DEFRA lead the government's view on the radioactive waste issue in the UK. |
| Information Commissioner's Office | The Information Commissioner's Office ensures the Data Protection Act, Environmental Information Regulations and the Freedom of Information Act are upheld within organisations across the UK. |
| United Kingdom Parliament World Wide Web Service | Information about the United Kingdom Parliament, the of Commons and the House of Lords. |
Links to International Organisation Websites
| Website | Description |
|---|---|
| French radioactive waste disposal agency. | |
| German company dealing with radioactive waste disposal. | |
| Foratom | The trade association of the European nuclear industry, Foratom promotes the peaceful use of nuclear energy. It acts as the voice of the nuclear industry in policy discussions involving the European Institutions. |
| International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) including | The Vienna based IAEA (part of the United Nations) is the global focal point for nuclear co-operation and promotes the peaceful use of atomic energy. It gives guidance on nuclear safety and verifies that members comply with their safeguard obligations and use nuclear material only for peaceful purposes. |
| NAGRA | Swiss cooperative dealing with the disposal of nuclear waste. |
| ONDRA/NIRAS | Belgian agency for radioactive waste and enriched fissile materials. |
| Posiva Oy | The Finnish radioactive waste management organisation. |
| SCK | Belgian nuclear research centre. |
| USDOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste | Responsible for developing a disposal facility for spent fuel from the USA civilian power programme and submarine reactors. |
| World Nuclear Association (WNA) | The World Nuclear Association, formerly known as the Uranium Institute, is a world wide network for nuclear generated electricity producers. The Institute promotes the peaceful use of nuclear energy as a means of supplying the world's growing energy demand. |
Links to Regulator Websites
| Website | Description |
|---|---|
| Environment Agency | The environmental regulatory body for England and Wales. |
| Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate | The HSE's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate is responsible for regulating the safety of nuclear sites in the UK. This is done through a system of site licensing. |
| Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee (NuSAC) | This committee advises the Health & Safety Commission on nuclear safety policy and its implementation at nuclear installations. |
| Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) | The environmental regulatory body for Scotland. |
Links to Science Websites
| Website | Description |
|---|---|
| New Scientist | "Leading weekly science magazine". Not peer reviewed science. It covers a wide range of science and scientific issues. |
| British Geological Survey
| The British Geological Survey is the UK's national centre for earth science information. |
Links to Other Websites
| Website | Description |
|---|---|
| Combined Nuclear Pension Plan (CNPP) | A new combined pension plan for the nuclear industry has been established by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) following extensive consultation with employers and union representatives. |
| ESDRED | A joint research effort by major national radioactive waste management agencies. |
| OSPAR | The 1992 OSPAR Convention is the current instrument guiding international cooperation on the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic. It combined and up-dated the 1972 Oslo Convention on dumping waste at sea and the 1974 Paris Convention on land-based sources of marine pollution. |
| UK Radioactive Waste Inventory (as at 1 April 2007) | The UK Radioactive Waste Inventory (i.e. the Inventory) provides comprehensive and up-to-date information on radioactive waste in the United Kingdom. It provides a consistent reference source of information for Government and its agencies, NDA, and others with a role or interest in the management of radioactive waste. |
| WasteLink | A categorised directory of internet sites dealing with radwaste, nuclear power, and environmental issues. |
| Long Now Foundation
| The Long Now Foundation seeks to promote "slower/better" thinking and to focus collective creativity on the next 10,000 years. |
Links to Environmental Organisation Websites
| Website | Description |
|---|---|
| Friends of the Earth | Friends of the Earth has the largest international network of environmental groups in the world, and is a leading environmental pressure group in the UK. |
| Greenpeace | Organisation campaigning to expose global environmental problems. |
| UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development (UK CEED) | The UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development (UK CEED) is a charity and company limited by guarantee. It was founded in 1984 with the aim of demonstrating the business case for good environmental practice. |
| Forum for the Future | Organisation which aims to accelerate the building of a sustainable way of life, working in partnership with business, government and education. |
| The Centre for the Study of Environmental Change (CSEC)
| CSEC is an interdisciplinary centre, now based in Lancaster's Department of Sociology, which exists to develop a fuller understanding of the social, political and cultural dimensions of debates around environment and new technologies, and of their implications for public policy and society. |
