Draft National Policy statement for Geological Disposal Infrastructure

On 25 January 2018, the Government laid before Parliament the draft National Policy Statement (‘NPS’) for Geological Disposal Infrastructure (‘GDI’) which set out the Government’s proposed framework for future development consent orders for a GDI in England. A GDI is a facility made of specially-engineered vaults and tunnels located deep underground that are designed to host the higher activity radioactive waste that cannot be stored at existing surface facilities on a permanent basis. A Committee was designated to carry out parliamentary scrutiny of the draft NPS as required under the Planning Act 2008. The focus of the inquiry was on the content and scope of the NPS; it was not on the merits of geological disposal as a means of disposing of higher activity radioactive waste.

Overall, most of the evidence received on the scope of the draft NPS was positive. Several stakeholders indicated that the draft NPS was on the whole fit for purpose and adequate, although the same evidence submissions also suggested improvements to the Assessment Principles and Impacts. In addition, it was found that the draft NPS satisfactorily reflected lessons improvements from previous failed attempts to find a suitable location for geological disposal and the Committee support the voluntary approach chosen for the siting process.

In this report, the Committee identify and focus on the four issues found to be most decisive to building consensus for this process: National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty; using the GDI to dispose of waste from new nuclear build; the place of local community consent in the NPS; and how the NPS is linked with the Industrial Strategy to deliver socioeconomic benefits to host communities.

For the full Draft Policy, please follow the link below.