Scientists and engineers say bury nuclear waste - but warn on unanswered questions

Deep geological disposal is the appropriate long-term option for UK nuclear waste but to achieve this a number of scientific and engineering issues will need to be addressed, says a group of cross-disciplinary scientists now organising a major workshop in November on the controversial issue.

In organising the workshop, the committee aims to address challenges raised this week by the CoRWM (Committee on Radioactive Waste Management) recommendations, including:

• what are the best options for interim nuclear waste storage
• what are the major parameters affecting product longevity
• what form does nuclear waste need to be in for disposal
• what is the best design for a repository and how do you engineer it
• what geological, chemical and physical questions need to be
• what happens to nuclear waste in a repository and how can it be monitored
• what can we learn from other countries?  

One of the members of the cross-disciplinary committee, Dr Jeff Hardy, manager of Environment, Sustainability and Energy at the Royal Society of Chemistry, said today: "There is a need for a multi-disciplinary approach from the various disciplines involved in nuclear waste management to address the recommendations made by CoRWM."

Leading scientists and engineers will attend the workshop "UK long-term nuclear waste management: Next steps" on 6 - 7 November in Loughborough to address these questions with the aim of providing key policy and decision makers with a set of actionable recommendations.

The technical organising committee includes British Geological Survey, British Nuclear Group, Dalton Nuclear Institute, Energy Institute, Environment Agency, Geological Society, Health and Safety Executive Nuclear Safety Directorate, Institution of Engineering and Technology,  Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, Institute of Physics, Loughborough University, Ministry of Defence, Nirex, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Royal Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, Safegrounds and UKAEA.