The Final Report of the West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely Partnership

The West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) Partnership was set up to consider the issues that would be involved in taking part in a search to see if there is anywhere in the Allerdale and/or Copeland areas suitable for a repository for higher activity radioactive waste.<br/>Over the last three years we have looked at reports and literature, heard from experts in the field, commissioned independent research and invited reviews by independent experts. We have placed a high priority on public and stakeholder engagement (PSE), carrying out three rounds of engagement in order to inform people, seek their input, and give feedback on how this changed our work.<br/>Our Final Report presents our work, together with our opinions and advice to Allerdale Borough Council, Copeland Borough Council and Cumbria County Council – who are the decision-making bodies in this process. This report will help inform the three Councils’ decisions about whether to participate in the next stages of the siting process or not. <br/>If they do decide to participate, then desk-based studies (Stage 4 of the MRWS process) and site investigations (Stage 5) would precede possible construction and operation of a facility (Stage 6). A right of withdrawal exists up until the end of Stage 5. <br/>This Executive Summary provides an overview of the issues we have considered and some of our key opinions and advice, which is abbreviated in some places. It is important to read our full Final Report to see all the opinions and advice we have agreed, and to get a clear picture of the work that lies behind them.<br/>