UK Government and Devolved Administration Response to the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) Report on 'Interim Storage of Higher Activity Wastes and the Management of Spent Fuels, Plutonium and Uranium'

The UK Government and the devolved administrations_ (for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, from here on referred to as &quot;The Government&quot;) statement of October 2006 made clear there will be strong independent scrutiny of the proposals, plans and programmes to deliver geological disposal of higher activity radioactive waste. In June 2007 Scottish Ministers announced a policy of near-surface, near-site long-term storage rather than geological disposal although they continue to sponsor CoRWM on storage and related research and development matters.<br/>The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) was reconstituted with modified terms of reference and expertise to provide this independent scrutiny and advise the UK Government and the devolved administration Ministers on the long-term radioactive waste management programme, including storage and disposal. CoRWM&#39;s primary task is to provide independent scrutiny of the Government&#39;s and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority&#39;s proposals, plans and programmes to deliver geological disposal, together with robust interim storage, as the long-term management option for the<br/>UK&#39;s higher activity wastes.<br/>In June 2008, sponsor Ministers agreed CoRWM&#39;s 08-09 work programme which included scrutinising and reporting on the existing and planned storage programme. This covered plans for retrieval of untreated wastes, safety, security, capacity, longevity, an assessment of the impact of NDA_s competition methodology on storage, the scrutiny of plans for waste handling and transport, and the scrutiny of management plans for materials that may be declared waste. CoRWM&#39;s report &quot;Interim Storage of Higher Activity Wastes and the Management of Spent Fuels, Plutonium and Uranium&quot; was published on<br/>31 March 2009 and the full report is available on the CoRWM website at www.corwm.org.uk.<br/>This document is the Government_s response to those recommendations and, as set out in CoRWM&#39;s terms of reference, will be made available along with CoRWM&#39;s report to respective Parliaments and Assemblies.