The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Developing a geological disposal facility for radioactive waste will be amongst the largest engineering programmes ever undertaken in this country.

Government has nominated the NDA as the implementation organisation, responsible for planning and delivering geological disposal. The work is being undertaken within NDA's Radioactive Waste Management Directorate (RWMD) at their offices in Harwell, Oxfordshire.

This is your opportunity to join the team that will implement geological disposal for the UK. This is a major-scale engineering programme with a wide range of novel technical challenges. Just as crucial as time and resources, though, will be the skills, energy and collaborative approach of the specialists who join us.

World class knowledge will be vital, but it's only half of the story. As an organisation, we need to engage effectively with society as a whole, and so ensure that the benefits and challenges of the project are fully communicated. That means we are seeking professionals who can tackle new engineering challenges, break new scientific ground, lead international best practice – and also explain often difficult concepts and tough choices to our many stakeholders.

The RWMD's work will not be completed quickly, yet there is real urgency to our work. The engineering programme itself is likely to last for decades, and the eventual solution will be designated to last for hundreds of years.

With the political will and technical expertise now in place, there is a unique opportunity to create a lasting solution to the radioactive waste issue. It is our job to make the most of that opportunity. We will be dealing with highly complex technical and social issues, and there will be no short cuts to success. That is why we are taking an ambitious approach to planning and progressing the programme, recognising the need to work closely with other interested parties.

The main focus for the Directorate in the immediate future will be to support Government during the site selection stages.

A defining feature of RWMD is that we will not be carrying out the important work into radioactive waste management alone. Throughout our activities, we will be liaising closely with the Government, communities, local government, the independent regulators, with the supply chain, and with the reconstituted Committee on Radioactive Waste Management.

RWMD will need to be flexible enough to change greatly over time. It is intended it will evolve into a Site Licence Company – a wholly owned subsidiary of the NDA – and could be subject to the competition process at some stage in the future. The nature of our work will also dramatically change as the programme moves from the research and investigation stages through to implementation.

• Our role in Geological Disposal