A radioactive waste dump in Buryakovka, Russia

The government was today accused by Greenpeace of having a haphazard approach to dealing with nuclear waste.

The accusation followed a briefing by David Miliband, the environment secretary, who accepted recommendations by the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) that nuclear waste should be dumped deep underground.

Nathan Argent, nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace, said: "There's already enough nuclear waste in this country to fill the Albert Hall five times over. And CoRWM's report clearly states that burying nuclear waste in a hole in the ground is not a sure-fire solution to deal with this enormous problem.

"Yet, unbelievably, the government was pushing for a series of new nuclear reactors, which would quadruple the amount of the most highly radioactive waste, before CoRWM's report was published.

"And it could take several generations to find a so-called suitable disposal site, if indeed at all. Therefore a period of interim storage will be inevitable, meaning nuclear waste will continue to be trundled around the country for decades.

"This is a repeat of the reckless attitude that the industry has had for the past 50 years which has landed us in the mess we are in now. Such a haphazard approach to nuclear waste clearly indicates that this Government has yet to learn that, when in a hole, you should stop digging."

There is no disposal site operating anywhere in the world for high level radioactive waste.

Greenpeace has recently launched a legal battle against the government's energy review, which backed a new generation of nuclear power plants. Earlier this month, Greenpeace lodged legal papers at the Royal Courts of Justice in London arguing that the Government did not carry out the full public consultation' it had committed itself to before making a decision to back new nuclear power stations.

ENDS

For more information, contact the Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255.

Publication date: 26th May 2006

Summary
In May 2006, CoRWM released its draft recommendations (PDF) on the management of radioactive wastes. The committee, which was set up by the government to find a long-term management plan for nuclear waste, concluded that the best available approach is "geological disposal" - more commonly called deep dumping.

After the release of the recommendations, a public consultation followed. This document is Greenpeace's submission to that public consultation.

Please note, the document refers to the Greenpeace response to draft Nuclear Industries Security (Amendment) Regulations, a letter responding to proposed changes to Nuclear Industries Security Regulations, which threaten the openness and transparency of discussions on nuclear matters. You can also download this document below.

Activists collect radioactive sand from Sellafield

Responding to the Committee on Radioactive Waste's recommendations about UK nuclear waste disposal Greenpeace campaigner Jean McSorley said:

"CORWM is recommending we bury radioactive waste in a big hole in the ground somewhere in the UK. This is an environmental time bomb for future generations because the waste will inevitably degrade and leak. The least dangerous option would be to keep the waste on the reactor sites in accessible storage."

She continued: "The fundamental lesson must be not to create any more of this dangerous waste which poses such environmental and security nightmares for up to one million years. That means Tony Blair should not propose building any new nuclear reactors."


For more information call Jean McSorley at the CoRWM meeting on 07801 212959.

Publication date: June 2005

Summary
This Greenpeace response to options for dealing with the UK's nuclear waste focuses on key issues which we believe CoRWM must involve itself with as it proceeds on the current discussion on radioactive waste management. These are the:

• possibility of a new nuclear reactor programme in the UK;
• possible 'burning' of plutonium and/or uranium stockpiles in reactors as a waste management option;
• possibility of plant life extension (PLEX) for existing nuclear reactors; and
• role of NIREX in heavily weighting the waste management option in favour of deep disposal.