What is the long-term waste management solution - Low level waste (LLW)
LLW Repository in Cumbria
Methods for disposing of LLW in near-surface facilities already exist. Although additional space is being created and there are plans for expansion in the future, the potential capacity of the existing national LLW repository in Cumbria (the LLWR) is below the forecast volume of LLW that must be dealt with in the future. Also there is a diminishing availability of landfill sites for the lower activity LLW.
It was for these reasons that in 2007 the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations announced a new policy that sets out a more flexible, sustainable approach for managing solid LLW in the long-term.
Under the Energy Act 2004, the NDA is responsible for developing a strategy and plans for LLW management and disposal. In August 2010 the NDA published a UK-wide strategy for managing LLW from the nuclear industry. Central to the strategy are the following themes:
- effective implementation of the waste hierarchy: i.e. non-creation of waste where practicable; minimisation where creation is unavoidable; re-use and recycling; and ultimately, disposal;
- making the best use of existing LLW management assets; and
- the need for new fit-for-purpose waste management routes.
The preference is for managing LLW at higher levels of the waste hierarchy, which means a move away from the past focus on disposal. Where disposal is necessary it will be optimised to minimise its impact. Nuclear industry LLW managers' plans will be informed by the strategy. The NDA also supported Government in developing a UK wide strategy for waste arising from the non-nuclear industry, to help ensure that the strategies for the nuclear and non-nuclear sectors are suitably integrated.
The small fraction of solid LLW that cannot be disposed of in near-surface facilities is taken into consideration when developing the disposal option for ILW and HLW (go to What is the long-term solution - Higher activity waste).
UK policies for the management of LLW are accessible from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) website, www.decc.gov.uk.
