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Spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power reactors is a global problem. None of the countries that host nuclear power reactors have a good permanent solution for disposal of spent nuclear fuel. There are test projects to build permanent geological repositories for such nuclear waste, but the U.S. canceled its work on a repository under Yucca Mountain in Nevada in 2009 and there won’t be any such repository until at least 2050 in the U.S. Then there is nuclear waste left over from nuclear weapons development. The U.S. does have such a repository in New Mexico. Other countries are still trying to find ways to deal with nuclear waste.
Last January, the U.K. government worked to restart its efforts to find a community that was willing to accept the siting of a nuclear waste dump in their area. They attempted to locate a willing community five years ago, but the effort failed. Now members of the U.K. Parliament are saying that they won’t rule out siting a nuclear waste dump under a national park. Critics of that possibility say that such a move could seriously impact the eight-billion-dollar income from use of national parks by the public.
The National Trust and eighteen other conservations groups in the UK have sent an open letter to the nuclear energy minister opposing suggestions that the Lake District be considered for a nuclear waste dump. The Lake District is the biggest national park in England and a World Heritage site. It is also located near Sellafield which currently contains most of the nuclear waste in the U.K.
In the open letter, groups such as the Woodland Trust and the Campaign to Protect Rural England said that the nuclear energy minister could risk damaging “long-established protections” that are given to national parks.
The minister has said that a deep geological nuclear waste facility would be similar to a potash mine that is being planned for a national park in North Yorkshire. He said that the nuclear waste facility like the planned potash mine would “leave very little blot on the landscape”.
The open letter from the conservation groups also said, “We recognize that safe disposal of nuclear waste is one of the key challenges our society currently faces but this should not be used as an excuse to put at risk the huge range of benefits these areas deliver for society, the environment and the economy.”
When asked, the nuclear energy minister stated that he would not exclude national parks as possible locations for a deep geological facility for the disposal of nuclear waste. He said, “I am not saying we should have them on national parks, but it would be very wrong to exclude them at the moment in this big policy statement.” Other members of parliament have said that “we cannot afford to restrict the siting process” and “most of the facility will be underground.”
Members of Parliament on the business, energy, and industrial strategy select committee said that national parks should not be excluded when considering siting for a national nuclear waste dump. A Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy spokesperson said, “Legislation already ensures developments in national parks can only proceed in exceptional circumstances and must be appropriate and proportionate.”
The GDF Watch is monitoring the process for siting a facility. The Director of the GDF Watch said that there was zero chance of a nuclear waste dump being sited under a national park because local communities which have the final say would never approve.