14 MAR, 2023 BY STEVE REECE
Call for greater investment in nuclear power in this week’s budget will also create a greater need to have policies that help us manage nuclear waste disposal too.
Steve Reece is head of geological disposal facility siting at Nuclear Waste Services
Nuclear technology has been part of our lives in the UK for over 60 years. It provides 15% of the UK’s electricity and is used across industry, medicine and defence. And, if the government’s ambitions are realised, we will soon come to rely on it even more as a source of energy for the years to come. As a result of these activities, we already have a legacy of radioactive waste, some of which we need to continue to manage safely today and for the thousands of years that it will remain a hazard.
Delivering a safe, secure, and permanent solution for this higher-activity radioactive waste represents one of the most significant challenges and opportunities of our time; its complexity underlined by the wide range of engineering and technical expertise required.
Development of a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) is the only viable, internationally accepted solution to managing the most radioactive waste in the long term. This underground facility, which is designed to dispose of radioactive waste in highly engineered vaults and tunnels deep underground, will be housed within suitable geology potentially three times deeper than the UK’s tallest building, the Shard in London.
As an indicator of the sheer scale of this challenge, we expect to have more than 4M.m3 of waste to recover and treat to complete the UK’s decommissioning programme, with over 770,000m3 of higher activity waste destined for a GDF.
While radioactive waste can be safely stored above ground, these facilities require ongoing maintenance and need replacing every 50 to 100 years. Investing in a GDF now removes these issues entirely, offering a permanent solution for the thousands of years it takes for radioactivity to naturally decay.
Development of a GDF has been part of government’s policy to manage radioactive waste since 2006 and will be one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the UK with an expected cost range of £20bn to £53bn and spanning 175 years. A GDF could offer unique opportunities for generations of engineers.
The diversity of skills and level of resource required will test our engineering sector. As a multi-disciplined project, we need a team that spans management, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, sustainability, and environment to name a few.
This is not solely a challenge for the nuclear sector. The range of work on offer, coupled with resource issues, mean that as an industry we must be open to the transfer of skills between sectors. We have taken inspiration from the mining, rail, highways and industrial sectors. As well as ensuring effective delivery, this promotes knowledge building, access to a breadth of solutions, and ultimately more inspiring careers for future engineers.
Futureproofing is at the heart of this project, with the development of a GDF spanning over 175 years. Coupled with maintaining engagement over this period, we will need to manage transfer of knowledge in a sustainable and robust way. In an evolving digital world, where the art of the possible frequently changes, this is a significant challenge. The way we do things today may evolve and change, so the design of a GDF needs to factor in emerging technologies, while maintaining the safety and integrity of the facility.
Nuclear is a learning sector, constantly evolving and adapting to conditions and hazards that some would consider extremely challenging. This flexible approach will be put to the test with the development of a GDF and it is possible that we could be building the disposal area at a scale few engineering projects have seen in the past – it is estimated 400km of underground tunnelling will be needed.
These are a handful of the complex technical challenges associated with a GDF, but the most pressing matter today is identifying a location. A suitable geological setting is an essential factor and, alongside the British Geological Survey, we carried out an exercise to gather information about geology across the UK that is relevant to the safety of a GDF. This provided a broad overview, but potential sites will require more detailed investigations which are likely to take around 10 to 15 years.
Equally important is engagement and working in partnership with communities. Government policy states that a GDF will only be built where there is a suitable site and a willing community. The prospect of a nuclear waste disposal facility on the scale described above is understandably daunting and there is historic cynicism surrounding the industry.
Identifying the location for a GDF is a structured process with the local community at its heart, who will have to give their consent before any development can go ahead. We have already established a dialogue within four communities across Cumbria and Lincolnshire, in the form of Community Partnerships, to explore whether hosting a GDF might be right for them.
These communities are already experiencing some very early benefits of a potential GDF. Once a Community Partnership is established, investment of up to £1M a year is injected into the local community. In the long term, enhanced infrastructure is likely to be required, leading to improvements at a local and regional level. A GDF is projected to create more than 4,000 jobs within the first 25 years alone and these roles will bring a huge economic stimulus to whichever community agrees to host a facility.
However, the use of nuclear technology can be contentious and, despite the economic advantages, there will always be safety concerns, which make community engagement so important, to allow people to ask questions and find out more for themselves. Understandably, people want to feel assured that facilities are safe now and that future generations are also not put at risk.
The UK is not the first country to explore GDF as a solution to nuclear waste disposal. There are more than 20 countries at different stages of GDF consideration and development around the globe, including close neighbours Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, and France. Scientists worldwide agree that a GDF is the best way to keep higher activity radioactive waste safe and secure for the long-term.
As with all major infrastructure projects, environmental impact is also a concern. The commitment from government and the sector is that a GDF will not only deliver the safe disposal of waste that would otherwise remain vulnerable to environmental and societal changes over very long timescales above ground, but also enhance the local environment. This ranges from protection of farmland to enhancement of biodiversity, with sustainability being built into the core of this project.
Developing a GDF is undoubtedly one of the most ambitious and complex engineering projects of our time. Before we even begin to tackle the technical, we face a challenge to overcome the questions, concerns, and misperceptions of nuclear waste in communities across the UK. We have a rich history of the nuclear industry and several regions have experienced the benefits that it can bring. While the hurdles may seem high, a GDF has the potential to unlock economic, environmental, and engineering opportunities for generations to come.
- Steve Reece is head of geological disposal facility siting at Nuclear Waste Services