U.K.’s RWM Has “Robust” Waste Packaging Regulatory Processes

By Jeremy Dillon

Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
9/25/2015

But in an effort to analyze the organization’s strength and weakness, the country’s nuclear oversight agencies reviewed the RWM’s regulatory competency – and found, according to the report released this week, the organization has made strides in that arena. “We inspected RWM’s disposability assessment and Letter of Compliance process and found it to be robust; it provides waste producers with confidence, reduces the risks associated with packaging wastes now, and helps progress decommissioning and clean-up,” the report says. “However, there is still potential for improvements in the process and we are continuing to engage with RWM to encourage progress of these.”

One area the agencies cited for improvement concerns the establishment of waste package records. “We continue to emphasize the importance of waste package records for disposability,” the report says. “Waste generators must establish plans to ensure appropriate records are made and managed for the long term, in order to meet future acceptance criteria for wastes disposed to a GDF. The industry now recognizes the importance of adequate and appropriate information management to support geological disposal, and addressing this is now regarded as a matter of high priority.”

The report also acknowledges that the RWM and the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency have initiated a project on waste package records and have opened dialogue with waste producers in an effort to better track the history of the waste packages.

RWM Ready for GDF Licensing Process, Office for Nuclear Regulations Says

The review also determined that RWM has developed the necessary framework to move forward, when ready, with its efforts to license a geologic disposal facility, the Office for Nuclear Regulation said.

“RWM has developed a good understanding of the permissions framework and the associated regulatory submissions required to support environmental permitting,” the review says. “It has adopted a sensible approach towards meeting our expectations for an initial site evaluation and preliminary environmental site evaluation. Our draft environmental permit template for intrusive investigation work at a GDF, and drafts of an application form and associated guidance to applicants, that we provided to RWM, will help RWM understand the Environment Agency’s permitting requirements and help it plan any future site investigation work program.”

RWM, with the Department of Energy and Climate Change, released a white paper last year outlining the nation’s new approach to siting a geological disposal facility for the nation’s high-level nuclear waste. The white paper aimed to rejuvenate the nation’s location search after a planned site West Cumbria was blocked. The new plan calls for more public volunteerism and a consent-based approach earlier in the process while also incorporating increased interaction between a potential community and RWM.

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September 21, 2015

U.K.?s RWM Has ?Robust? Waste Packaging Regulatory Processes, Review Finds

By ExchangeMonitor

The United Kingdom’s Radioactive Waste Management Ltd. has robustly advanced its disposability assessments and letter of compliance process for the packaging of high-level waste, according to a biennial review by the U.K. Environment Agency and Office for Nuclear Regulation. The RWM is responsible for instituting the nation’s high-level waste disposition program, which includes interim storage and the eventual construction of a geological disposal facility. But in an effort to analyze the organization’s strength and weakness, the country’s nuclear oversight agencies reviewed the RWM’s regulatory competency – and found, according to the report released yesterday, the organization has made strides in that arena. “We inspected RWM’s disposability assessment and Letter of Compliance process and found it to be robust; it provides waste producers with confidence, reduces the risks associated with packaging wastes now, and helps progress decommissioning and clean-up,” the report said. “However, there is still potential for improvements in the process and we are continuing to engage with RWM to encourage progress of these.”

One area the report recommended RWM improve concerns the establishment of waste package records. “We continue to emphasize the importance of waste package records for disposability,” the report said. “Waste generators must establish plans to ensure appropriate records are made and managed for the long term, in order to meet future acceptance criteria for wastes disposed to a GDF. The industry now recognizes the importance of adequate and appropriate information management to support geological disposal, and addressing this is now regarded as a matter of high priority.” The report also acknowledged that the RWM and the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency have initiated a project on waste package records and have opened dialogue with waste producers in an effort to better track the history of the waste packages.

Comments are closed.