The LLWR’s 2011 Environmental Safety Case (ESC) was submitted to the Environment Agency on the 1st May 2011. It plays a very important role in determining the future of the Low Level Waste Repository as the UK's primary facility for the disposal of low level waste.
The Environment Agency, in their ‘Guidance on Requirements for Authorisation’, define an environmental safety case as:
‘a set of claims concerning the environmental safety of disposals of solid radioactive waste, substantiated by a structured collection of arguments and evidence.’
The objective of our ESC is to demonstrate to the Environment Agency and other stakeholders that it is safe to continue to dispose of LLW at the LLWR.
Our ESC considers environmental safety both now and up to thousands of years in the future. It covers arguments and evidence relating to our:
The environmental safety case submitted in 2002 did not fully meet the Environment Agency’s requirements. When they issued the LLWR with an Authorisation (now called a Permit) in 2006, it only allowed disposal of LLW in Vault 8. The subsequently constructed Vault 9, although designed and built to meet EA disposal criteria, was authorised for storage and not disposal. A revised or new permit is required for us to be allowed to dispose of waste in Vault 9 and future vaults. The 2006 Authorisation required us to submit a revised environmental safety case by 1st May 2011.
The Environment Agency will now review the ESC to see if they agree with our conclusions. In due course, we will be submitting an application to the Environment Agency for a new permit allowing us to dispose of LLW in Vault 9 and future vaults and to start to install the necessary engineering to close the Repository, including the final cap over the facility. This application will be supported by the ESC. Environment Agency FAQs
We also need planning permission from the Waste Planning Authority Cumbria County Council, to dispose of LLW in Vault 9, build future vaults for disposal, and build the closure engineering. We are submitting a planning application to the Council in parallel with our ESC to the Environment Agency. This will ensure that the Council know that the facility is safe before they issue us with planning permission and the Environment Agency are assured that we can construct the necessary engineering barriers to protect people and the environment.
There are a number of groups, known collectively as stakeholders, who take an interest in what we do and how we do it. Engaging with our stakeholders has been an important part of developing the ESC. For example, we have consulted on the designs of our vaults and final cap that needs to be built over the disposed wastes. We will continue to work with our stakeholders to make sure we take account of their views as our management plans evolve in the future.
If you have any comments or questions about our ESC, please let us know. We will pass on any communications we receive to the Environment Agency in advance of their consultations.
For all general enquiries please contact our dedicated email address :
llwr.enquiries@llwrsite.com or ring 019467 24800