UK Radioactive Waste Inventory

UK Radioactive Waste Inventory

Its purpose and scope

Dounreay site

The UK Radioactive Waste Inventory (the Inventory) is an inventory of radioactive waste in the United Kingdom. Its aim is to provide, in an open and transparent manner, comprehensive and up-to-date data for those interested in radioactive waste issues. It enables the UK to meet international reporting obligations and to develop strategic plans for the management of radioactive waste in the UK.

The Inventory provides information on the sources, quantities and properties of radioactive waste present in the UK or that is forecast to arise in the future in the UK. This includes Low Level Waste (LLW), Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) and High Level Waste (HLW).

The Inventory is a snapshot of radioactive waste in the UK as at a specific date. It is based on a single scenario for the production of radioactive waste in the UK. This scenario reflects the status of UK nuclear industry and Government policies at that date. For example the current Inventory (i.e. 2010 Inventory) assumes that no new nuclear power stations will be built in the future in the UK and that radioactive materials such as spent nuclear fuels are not classified as waste as they could be reused in the future. Find out more about the 2010 Inventory scenario.

Summary information on other UK radioactive substances that are not reported in the Inventory is also published along side the Inventory. These substances include:

• civil radioactive materials that are not currently classified as waste in the UK (i.e. plutonium, uranium and nuclear fuels); and,
• radioactively contaminated ground and other materials deemed to be wastes but which are not sufficiently well characterised to be reported in the Inventory (i.e. substances with high uncertainty on whether they will arise or not, and/or the quantities and characteristics of such arisings).

This information will enable the UK Government to take into consideration all radioactive substances that might have to be managed as waste at some time in the future when developing UK policy for radioactive waste management. Information on these substances is based on the same scenario used for preparing the Inventory.

The Inventory does not include liquid and gaseous wastes containing very low concentrations of radioactivity that are routinely discharged to the environment in accordance with government-approved arrangements. Discharges are made within authorised limits, usually after some form of treatment. Also excluded are small quantities of radioactive wastes with very low concentrations of radioactivity typically from research establishments, hospitals, universities and the non-nuclear industry (so-called "small users") that can be safely disposed of with municipal, commercial or industrial waste, either directly or after incineration.  In addition, radioactive materials from defence programmes are excluded for reasons of national security.

Its preparation

The Inventory is routinely updated and published in the public domain, currently on a 3 yearly cycle. The current Inventory is based on a stock date of 1 April 2010 (i.e. the 2010 Inventory) and the next update is planned to have a stock date of 1 April 2013 (i.e. the 2013 Inventory).

Torness power station

The preparation of the Inventory is jointly funded by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The management of this project is led by NDA who consults with DECC on all aspects of the work.

The scope of the Inventory and strategy for its preparation is agreed by Government agencies that regulate the UK nuclear industry and the major waste producers in the UK, i.e.:

• DECC;
• Environment Agency;
• Scottish Environment Protection Agency;
• Health & Safety Executive – Nuclear Installations Inspectorate;
• NDA and its Site Licence Companies;
• Ministry of Defence;
• British Energy;
• GE Healthcare Ltd;
• Urenco

Conventions for preparing the Inventory is agreed at the beginning of the exercise (e.g. definitions of specific terms used in the Inventory). Find out more about the conventions used to prepare the 2010 Inventory.

Information on radioactive waste that is required for preparing the Inventory is collected using a structured set of questions developed by NDA in conjunction with DECC and the waste producers. Waste producers are responsible for supplying this information for all radioactive wastes they manage on their sites at the stock date of the Inventory or that they forecast to arise in the future. They must also ensure that this information is up-to-date and accurate.

Information on radioactive materials is collected from documents available in the public domain and from the material owners.

The NDA checks the data provided by the waste producers to identify any anomalies, inconsistencies, omissions or differences from the previous Inventory and seeks an explanation or rectification of these findings from the waste producers. Approval of this data resides solely within the waste producers.

Once the data has been finalised, it is transferred to an electronic database and released into the public domain in a suite of reports. Only information, that does not impede national security or commercial sensitivity, is released into the public domain.

Please do not hesitate to Contact Us if you have any queries on the UK Radioactive Waste Inventory.