• OUR NEW DIRECTORATE

    A key part of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the RWMD has assumed responsibility for the long-term management of radioactive waste in the UK. Once we are operational, we will have around 110 staff and – at least during our formative years – we expect to be based around Abingdon in Oxfordshire.

    The Government started the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) programme in 2001 to resolve the long-term management of radioactive waste. As part of this programme they established an independent Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) to make recommendations as to the way forward. The Committee came up with a number of recommendations, including geological disposal as the best solution for the UK’s long-term radioactive waste management. The Government accepted the principal recommendations and asked the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to take on the role of a ‘strong, effective implementing organisation with clear responsibilities and accountabilities’.

    The Government also announced that progress was to be based on a voluntarism and partnership approach with a host community, that there would be strong and robust regulation, and independent scrutiny of the work of Government and the NDA. Thus, any solution would need to be based on open and transparent partnerships with potential host communities. With this clear remit, the NDA established the new Radioactive Waste Management Directorate in April 2007.

    After absorbing many of the responsibilities and specialist staff from Nirex (the organisation formerly responsible for UK radioactive waste management) the new directorate is in a position to provide an integrated approach to radioactive waste management across the UK’s civil nuclear sites – and also to progress the strategic planning necessary for geological disposal facilities.