UK Radioactive Waste Inventory

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 at Springfields and reprocessed at Sellafield.

Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor.

A UK private sector company that operates nuclear power stations.

The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) is an independent body set up by Government to recommend a strategy for the long-term management of higher activity wastes in the UK. The Committee reported in July 2006. CoRWM has been re-constituted with modified terms of reference and membership to scrutinise the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) programme and its implementation.

Contaminated land is defined as ground, soil, water and, potentially, underground structural materials such as building foundations which have been impacted by radioactive and/or chemical substances from past or present operations (including authorised discharges and disposals), and for which the level of the radioactive or chemical substance is above natural background.

Committee on Radioactive Waste Management

The final phase in the life cycle of a nuclear installation covering all activities from shutdown and removal of radioactive material to environmental restoration of the site.

The UK Government department which, with the environment departments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, sets policy for UK radioactive waste management.

The emplacement of waste in a suitable facility without intent to retrieve it. (Retrieval may be possible but, if intended, the appropriate term is storage.)

Previously Amersham plc. A company that provides products and services for use in healthcare and life science research. This includes radioisotopes for medical and research users.

Geological disposal usually refers to a long-term management option involving the emplacement of radioactive waste in an engineered repository at between 200 metres and one kilometre underground where the geology (rock structure) provides a barrier against the escape of radioactivity.

A collective term for the central government bodies responsible for setting radioactive waste management policy within the UK. It includes the Houses of Parliament and the Devolved Administrations.

Wastes in which the temperature may rise significantly as a result of their radioactivity, so this factor has to be taken into account in the design of waste storage or disposal facilities. HLW needs thick concrete walls to shield operators from the high radiation. Initially HLW comprises nitric acid solutions containing the waste products of reprocessing spent nuclear fuels.

High Level Waste

Intermediate Level Waste

ILW is waste with radioactivity levels exceeding the upper boundaries for LLW but which does not generate enough heat for this to need to be taken into account in the design of storage or disposal facilities. However like other radioactive waste it still needs to be contained to protect workers from radiation. The major components of ILW are metal items such as nuclear fuel casing and nuclear reactor components, graphite from reactor cores, and sludges from the treatment of radioactive liquid effluents.

Low Level Waste

Low Level Waste Repository

LLW Repository Limited is currently part of the BNFL group of companies. The NDA initiated a competition process in April 2006 to find a new Parent Body Organisation (PBO) to run the LLWR site, including ownership of the LLW Repository Limited company. This new PBO has a broader remit than the current operators – it will be responsible for the co-ordination of low level waste management activities and any potential new facilities throughout the UK. This process was expected to be completed in 2008.

Low Level Waste (LLW) is the lowest activity category of radioactive waste. Overall, the major components of LLW are building rubble, soil and steel items such as framework, pipework and reinforcement from the dismantling and demolition of nuclear reactors and other nuclear facilities and the clean up of nuclear sites. However, at the present time most LLW is from the operation of nuclear facilities, and this is mainly paper, plastics and scrap metal items. A sub-category of LLW is Very Low Level Waste (VLLW).

The Low Level Waste Repository (LLWR) near the village of Drigg, south of Sellafield, in Cumbria has operated as a national disposal facility for LLW since 1959.

Light Water Reactor

Cubic metres – a measure of volume.

An alloy of magnesium used for fuel element cladding in natural uranium fuelled gas-cooled power reactors. Also a generic name for this type of reactor.

The Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) programme was established by the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for developing and implementing a policy for managing the UK’s higher activity wastes in the long-term.

Ministry of Defence

Managing Radioactive Waste Safely

Minor Waste Producers

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

A science and technology services company, part of British Nuclear Fuels plc.

A public body set up by the Government in April 2005 with responsibility for the UK's public sector civil nuclear liabilities, and their subsequent management. In October 2006, the Government also gave the NDA the responsibility for developing and ensuring delivery and implementation of the programmes for interim storage and geological disposal of the UK’s higher activity wastes. From March 2007, the NDA was also given responsibility for developing a UK wide strategy for managing the UK nuclear industry’s LLW and for securing disposal capacity for LLW generated by non-nuclear industry users.

Fuel used in a nuclear reactor. Most fuel is made of uranium, and produces heat when the uranium atoms split into smaller fragments.

Wastes arising from the day-to-day operations of a facility associated with the use or handling of radioactive materials.

A radioactive element created in nuclear reactors. It can be separated from spent nuclear fuel by reprocessing. Plutonium is not classified as radioactive waste as it has potential value. It can used as a nuclear fuel, in nuclear weapons and as a power source for space probes.

Pressurised Water Reactor

A property possessed by some atoms that split spontaneously, with release of energy through emission of a sub-atomic particle and/or radiation.

The chemical extraction of reusable uranium and plutonium from waste materials in spent nuclear fuel.

The company holding the nuclear license (i.e. SLC) to operate Sellafield, Calder Hall, Windscale and Capenhurst (NDA). In October 2006 the NDA announced that the management of Sellafield Ltd would be competed commencing Spring 2007. This process was expected to be completed in 2008.

Entity that holds the nuclear site licence and the discharge authorisations for a UK nuclear site for which the NDA is responsible. The SLC carries out the daily management and operations of the site under contract to the NDA.

Site Licence Company

Fuel that has been used to power nuclear reactors that is no longer capable of efficient fission due to the loss of fissile material. These radioactive materials are not classified as wastes as they have potential value. Spent fuel can be reprocessed to separate uranium and plutonium.

The company holding the nuclear license (i.e. SLC) to operate Springfields. Springfields Fuels Limited was formed in April 2005 as part of the government's reorganisation of the nuclear industry in the UK. Westinghouse Electric UK Ltd is the Management & Operations (M&O) company running Springfields and Springfields Fuels Limited on the NDA's behalf.

The emplacement of waste in a suitable facility with the intent to retrieve it at a later date.

UKAEA is a contractor to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) for management of decommissioning at Dounreay, Harwell, Windscale, Winfrith and the fusion research facilities at Culham. Also in 2005, the Government approved UKAEA's plans to expand and compete for wider business.

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

A radioactive element that occurs in nature. Uranium is not classified as a radioactive waste as it has potential value. It can be used to manufacture fresh nuclear fuel and nuclear weapons. 

A company that is engaged in uranium enrichment at Capenhurst in Cheshire.

This comprises small volumes principally from hospitals and universities that can be safely disposed of with municipal, commercial or industrial waste (either directly or after incineration), and larger volumes from nuclear sites that can be disposed of to specified landfill facilities.

Very Low Level Waste