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12/08/2005
£56bn clean-up bill for nuclear power
The cost of cleaning up 20 nuclear power stations and associated waste storage facilities in the UK is expected to top £56 billion, it has been announced.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority announced the figure on Thursday in its first report, since it was established to take responsibility for Britain’s nuclear waste.
The NDA’s draft strategy contains plans for the decommissioning and clean up of 20 civil nuclear sites. At the top of the list of proposals are plans to decommission the facilities at Sellafield – where a leak was discovered earlier this year – and Dounreay.
There are also proposals to introduce a new low-level waste depository at Dounreay, and find a replacement for the existing storage facility at Drigg in Cumbria, which is close to an eroding shoreline and could eventually face a risk of flooding due to the rising sea level.
The NDA’s proposals also include plans to accelerate the decommissioning of the ageing Magnox stations, from over a hundred years to 25 years.
The proposals also include plans to evaluate options for interim storage of intermediate level waste.
NDA Chairman Sir Anthony Cleaver described the draft strategy as “ambitious and challenging”. He said: “We are also confident that it is deliverable, if we can gain regulator, government and stakeholder support. Put simply, we want to achieve decommissioning and clean up more quickly, more cost effectively, more safely and in a more environmentally-friendly manner.”
Consultation plans on the NDA’s draft strategy will be open until November 11.
(KMcA/SP)
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority announced the figure on Thursday in its first report, since it was established to take responsibility for Britain’s nuclear waste.
The NDA’s draft strategy contains plans for the decommissioning and clean up of 20 civil nuclear sites. At the top of the list of proposals are plans to decommission the facilities at Sellafield – where a leak was discovered earlier this year – and Dounreay.
There are also proposals to introduce a new low-level waste depository at Dounreay, and find a replacement for the existing storage facility at Drigg in Cumbria, which is close to an eroding shoreline and could eventually face a risk of flooding due to the rising sea level.
The NDA’s proposals also include plans to accelerate the decommissioning of the ageing Magnox stations, from over a hundred years to 25 years.
The proposals also include plans to evaluate options for interim storage of intermediate level waste.
NDA Chairman Sir Anthony Cleaver described the draft strategy as “ambitious and challenging”. He said: “We are also confident that it is deliverable, if we can gain regulator, government and stakeholder support. Put simply, we want to achieve decommissioning and clean up more quickly, more cost effectively, more safely and in a more environmentally-friendly manner.”
Consultation plans on the NDA’s draft strategy will be open until November 11.
(KMcA/SP)
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PM unveils nuclear weapons plans
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21 April 2004
Sellafield set to reduce radioactive discharges
Sellafield, the British Nuclear Fuels-run power station in Cumbria, is set to cut discharges of a certain type of radioactive material by 90% – waste matter which had been pumped into the Irish Sea.
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04 April 2005
Nuclear waste management options unveiled
Plans for the long-term management of UK nuclear waste have been unveiled by the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM). The Committee assessed fifteen options for managing nuclear waste, assessing the risks to human health, the environment and the security of the waste.
Nuclear waste management options unveiled
Plans for the long-term management of UK nuclear waste have been unveiled by the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM). The Committee assessed fifteen options for managing nuclear waste, assessing the risks to human health, the environment and the security of the waste.
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