Materials for Nuclear Waste Management

01 June 2006

 

A report summarising the findings of the RSC workshop on "Materials for Nuclear Waste Management".

Background

The workshop - Materials for Nuclear Waste Management - was organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry in collaboration with the University of Manchester Dalton Nuclear Institute and the University of Sheffield Immobilisation Science Laboratory and Radioactive Waste Immobilisation Network.  Its aims were to provide a forum for researchers spanning a range of disciplines. The scope covered developments in nuclear waste management from both a national and European perspective and particularly the role of the chemical sciences.  Future scenarios for waste management were explored in an interactive session to identifying key technologies, skills and potential collaborations.  This workshop was attended by scientists working in the nuclear industry, as well as physical scientists, materials scientists, and engineers.  This report summarises the presentations and the discussion during the breakout sessions.

Executive Summary

The UK needs a long term option for both its existing nuclear waste and any future waste created by new nuclear power plants. 

In order to package nuclear waste in a form suitable for long-term management it is vital that the exact nature of the geological repository where they are to be stored is known.  The Government must act swiftly and make a decision once the recommendations from the Committee for Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) are reported in July 2006.           

Research is needed into waste form design and stability. There is particularly a need for research into immobilising unconventional nuclear wastes, including substantial quantities of plutonium and graphite; there is no current long-term management option for a number of radioactive materials.

There is no managed funding programme in the UK that specifically addresses nuclear waste; currently researchers must bid into competitive programmes where nuclear waste research may be disadvantaged as it does not always fit the criteria of selection panels. In addition, working with radioactive materials is costly. A ring fenced funding programme for nuclear waste management is needed.

The UK has a shortfall of facilities at which experiments and characterisation of radioactive material can be carried out.  This is hindering progress on nuclear waste management and means the UK has a weak hand in EU and international collaborative projects as we have little to offer.

There are now too few scientists with skills in nuclear waste management in the UK. How many scientists have left the nuclear industry is not known as there is no skills register.  To ensure there is a supply of appropriately skilled scientists in the future there is a need for courses at undergraduate level and funding for research at postgraduate level.

Nuclear waste researchers and the nuclear industry must look to other sectors for collaboration on dual use technology and relevant know-how. 

The issues of public acceptance of nuclear waste repositories must be considered by nuclear scientists and engineers who must put forward the case for safe, long term storage.

Materials for Nuclear Waste Management

Presentations and the full report from the workshop held on 18 January 2006.