The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Nuclear Materials Issues Group Meeting

31 July 2006

The Nuclear Materials Issues Group (MIG) met in Manchester in mid May to review progress. The meeting - one of the sub-groups of the National Stakeholder Group - was convened by the Environment Council.

Dr Paul Gilchrist, gave presentations on the two work streams which have now been identified within the nuclear materials remit. These are the Spent Fuel Management Options Review and Nuclear Materials Disposition.

The overall objective of the Spent Fuel Management Options Review is to identify the key issues and to propose an approach that will help develop a long-term integrated plan.

The NDA Project Board that will oversee this work is chaired by Engineering Director, Richard Waite. The work of the board is subject to peer review and also to the input of views from stakeholders on the Nuclear Material Issues Group (MIG).

There are four major areas of work within the project. These are: - Magnox, Oxide Spent Fuels (including PWR and AGR), Non-Standard Fuels (arising from Research reactors) and an additional scope and sensitivity analysis to consider any new options or information.

The project is due to deliver its report at the end of the 06/07 financial year with an early draft published at the end of January 07.

Gathering the information on Spent Fuel, including: - volumes, type, technical data, timing, plausible scenarios, risks and opportunities is due to be completed shortly. The second part of the project is to research the options available. This will include looking at the UK infrastructure, what we have got, what can be used and what is the timescale. International good practice and infrastructure will also be examined. In particular the experiences in France, Finland and the US will be the focus of attention. An invitation to tender has been issued for this work. The work is due to be concluded at the end of September 06.

"The project team is working on developing methodology for the third phase which is the Life-cycle analysis. An intermediate analysis is due to be completed by the end of December 06. The Materials Issues Group is invited to comment on the project and to propose future scenarios for consideration in the study. The group will continue to receive updates on progress at their meetings throughout the project period", said Paul Gilchrist.

The Nuclear Materials Disposition Project reviews the broad issues associated with the civil Plutonium and Uranium legacy. At present both are regarded as zero value assets and their management and storage is within the NDA's remit but the future disposition is not.

Paul Gilchrist explained: "We need to develop robust positions on the asset or liability of Uranium and Plutonium. We are committed in our Strategy to carry out macro-economic studies on both materials. We already sponsor a research and development programme for plutonium. We are now sponsoring a parallel study for uranium."

The study looks at: - the task; key elements; model structure; delivery schedule; the balance between technical and economic factors; macroeconomics and socio-economics.

The contract for the study which was open to tender under European Union procedures has been awarded to ERM who are a major economic consultancy with an international reputation in the energy sector as well as the nuclear sector.