Introduction
With publication of the White Paper “Managing Radioactive Waste Safety: a Framework for Implementing Geological Disposal”, Government invites communities to express an interest in opening up without commitment discussions on the possibility of hosting a geological disposal facility at some point in the future.
What is a community in this context?
There will always be differences of opinion on what constitutes a ‘community’. Government acknowledges the important role that existing local democratic decision-making structures are likely to play in a successful process as they are the elected representatives with a mandate to speak for communities.
The Government will use the definitions below to define three types of community for the purposes of the site selection process. These definitions are not rigid; the intention is to retain flexibility to account for local circumstances and allow communities to have a degree of self-definition.
The concept of ‘community’ is considered under three headings: the Host Community; Decision Making Bodies and Wider Local Interests. These are defined as follows:
- Host Community - The community in which any facility will be built can be termed the ‘Host Community’. The ‘Host Community’ will be a small geographically defined area, and include the population of that area and the owners of the land. For example, it could be a town or village
- Decision Making Body - Local Government will have decision-making authority for their host community. There are different local authority structures in different parts of the UK. For example, in England local authorities include district councils, county councils, metropolitan district councils and London Boroughs whereas in Wales, local authorities are unitary. Such a body will be termed ‘Decision Making Body’
- Wider Local Interests - Outside the Host Community, there are likely to be other communities that have an interest in the development of a facility in the Host Community, and there needs to be a mechanism that allows them to become involved in the process. Such a community might be the next village, a neighbouring district or a community on the local transport routes to the Host Community. Such communities will be termed ‘Wider Local Interests’
All three levels of community will need to liaise closely with one another as the process is taken forward. Both Government and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) will need to engage with all three ‘communities’.
The initial stages of the site selection process
There will be two key local decision points during early stages of the site selection process:
- an Expression of Interest– this is the decision point at which local communities register their ‘without commitment’ interest in discussions about potential involvement in the siting process.
- a Decision to Participate– this is the point at which a Decision Making Body makes a formal commitment to participate in the geological disposal facility siting process, but ‘without commitment’ to eventually host the facility.
[ Link to Expression of Interest and Decision to Participate process: Table 2 of White Paper ]
A condition of reaching the Decision to Participate stage is that the local community area is subject to the application of sub-surface screening criteria by the British Geological Survey (BGS) to eliminate areas that are obviously unsuitable and avoid further unnecessary work. [Link to “sub-surface un-suitability test” - para 7.4 of White Paper ]
It is stressed that neither an Expression of Interest or a Decision to Participate imply any commitment to host a geological disposal facility. Rather they allow the community and their elected representatives to enter into discussions with Government on the possibilities that exist.
The Government wishes to allow sufficient time for any community to consider expressing an interest. At this early stage, it is expected that some communities may be better informed of the issues than others, for example those who already have local nuclear facilities. However, the option to express an interest will be left open for the foreseeable future. Any expressions of interest further into the process, when Government or the NDA’s delivery organisation are already engaged with Communities who have taken a Decision to Participate, will be considered on a case by case basis.
Who can express an interest?
Government does not want to be prescriptive about who could initiate local discussions about an Expression of Interest, but expects the local decision making body to be involved in an approach to Government. There may be initial interest from a local authority, a Parish Council or from organisations or landowners within an area. A community might make an initial approach to Government before identifying a specific site. Government would expect any Parish Council, organisation or landowner that wanted to be considered in the siting process to contact its local authority in the first instance to discuss putting forward an Expression of Interest to Government. If discussions stall at this stage, Government may be interested in entering into discussions with relevant parties to provide further information and to focus on any questions or areas of concern about the siting process and geological disposal.
Before making an Expression of Interest, Government suggests that the local authority should have canvassed opinion on the issue, for example, through existing Local Strategic Partnerships or specifically convened meetings with potential local partners. These partners might include Parish/Town Councils, local Community, Business and Environmental stakeholder groups, and neighbouring local authorities. An Expression of Interest must be made in writing and Government would expect it to outline the actions taken to gather opinion and arrive at the Expression.
There is no reason why two or more local authorities should not submit a combined Expression of Interest as, in practice, the initial area of investigation could cross local authority boundaries or involve two tiers of local government.
A local authority, or authorities, that make an Expression of Interest should have a clear commitment to organising community engagement to inform a Decision to Participate. Costs of such engagement will be funded, either partly or wholly, through Government to assist communities in considering these issues.
Communities in Wales and Scotland
Should a community within Wales wish to put forward an Expression of Interest it should do so to the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG). If this were to happen the WAG would at that point consider its position in respect of the geological disposal programme and the specific Expression of Interest. Should a community in Northern Ireland want to respond to the invitation it should contact the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland. Should a community in Scotland want to respond, UK Government would refer it to the Scottish Executive through the appropriate devolution mechanisms.Scotland want to respond to the invitation, UK Government would refer it to the Scottish Executive through the appropriate devolution mechanisms.
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