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You are here: CIWM  >  Publications  >  Latest News  >  250 000 Tonnes A Year Of Nuclear Waste To Be Dumped In Northamptonshire Traditional Landfill

250 000 Tonnes A Year Of Nuclear Waste To Be Dumped In Northamptonshire Traditional Landfill

26 May 2011

The government has ignored local planning objections and pushed through a controversial scheme to allow 250,000 tonnes a year of nuclear waste to be dumped in a traditional landfill site in a move that has been criticised as undermining the government's professed commitment to localism

Eric Pickles, the secretary of state for communities and local government commented that "the risk of actual harm from the development would be very low" and it should therefore be given the go-ahead.

The decision for the site at King's Cliffe, a village near Peterborough, could potentially have significant implications for other areas where landfill is needed to deal with the large volumes of low-level waste from the UK's atomic industry.

Britain's only purpose-built low-level waste depository at Drigg in Cumbria is rapidly filling up. Ministers decided last year that the law should be changed to allow traditional landfill sites to be used in some circumstances.

Augean, the waste management outfit, is expected to bring waste with "small amounts of radioactivity" in to the east Northamptonshire site at King's Cliffe by road from Harwell in Oxfordshire, which was established in 1946 as Britain's first atomic energy research establishment. But local residents fear that the facility could also be used for waste created at other nuclear plants such as Bradwell in Essex.

In a press release Augean commented about the decision: "We hope that members of the local community who have had reservations about these proposals can be reassured that both the secretary of state and the environment agency would not authorise permission for disposal of these wastes unless they were completely satisfied that they present negligible risk to human health or the environment. We look forward to continue working with the local community and their elected representatives as we take these proposals forward."

Denied Permission

Planning permission had been denied by Northamptonshire county council and a local referendum had damned the scheme but Augean appealed to the secretary of state, saying the 250,000 tonnes would be mainly made up of relatively uncontaminated rubble and other debris. It argued that the facility has accepted hazardous waste without harmful effect on the environment or local economy.

Augean added: "We are very pleased that our planning application has withstood the close examination of the inquiry and that the secretary of state has upheld our proposals for East Northamptonshire Resource Management Facility. His support joins that of the Environment Agency in allowing this important scheme to go ahead."

The company, which has no prior experience of handling nuclear waste and has been fined by the Environment Agency for past breaches of regulations, said it would work with local residents to further allay any concerns.

Residents said they were shocked that such a groundbreaking decision could be taken before the conclusions of a wide-ranging debate about radioactive safety after the Fukushima atomic plant crisis.

Louise Bagshaw, MP for nearby Corby, told the BBC the decision undermined the government's professed commitment to localism. "We had a local referendum at the ballot box, not a petition, actual votes cast and 96 percent of people were against this dump. I will be asking the secretary of state why his department has taken this appalling decision."

Environment Agency Environment Manager Simon Mitchell said: "It is the Environment Agency's job to ensure that any waste that is sent to landfill is disposed of in a way which protects people and the environment.

"I want to assure the local community that we have approved this permit because we are satisfied that our high environmental standards have been met. We will ensure that Augean carries out regular checks and monitoring to confirm that the terms of their permit are being adhered to and the results will be published on our public register."

For further information on the Environment Agency's role in managing nuclear waste CLICK HERE

Darrel Moore