Page 131 - Beyond Decommissioning

112 Beyond Decommissioning

In 2006/2007 NDA started a process to define the SES for each of its sites.
Although there was some high-level guidance (Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority, 2006) the process was formerly handed over to the sites and the local com-
munities. The result was several different approaches, inconsistent outputs, and out-
puts focused on use rather than state. NDA took the outputs and produced a high-level
summary for each site (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, 2009a,b). It also used
this information where it could within the high-level SES definitions given in the back
of the NDA Strategy. The process did not appreciate that defining the SES was not a
one-off process; how could they know at that point everything about the site or social
context in the future to foresee in detail what the SES needed to be? Besides, NDA has
made it clear that they are not responsible for defining the next use of the site, that is,
the responsibly of the local planning authority and/or investors. It is difficult to state
with certainty that this strategy was entirely sensible, especially given the location of
these sites and the link between use and SES. As a result, subsequent discussions with
stakeholders were difficult as they felt that the SES had already been decided and their
focus was rather on site use. NDA has recently been developing a new approach to
defining the SES (see further).
NDA recognized that a constraint to developing optimized SES was the require-
ment to revoke the nuclear site license (delicensing). To achieve the termination of
the nuclear license the licensee had to prove they had met the “no danger” criteria:
the regulator had stated that “an additional risk of death to an individual of one in
6
a million (10 ) per year, was ‘broadly acceptable’ to society” (Health and Safety
Executive, 2008). In practice, this meant remove everything radioactive, even though
it were fully negligible; the question is whether this (over) conservative approach
could be sustainable.
NDA formed a group working with the nuclear safety regulator (ONR), environ-
ment agencies and government to look into regulations of nuclear sites toward the end
of decommissioning. A discussion paper was produced (GOV.UK, 2016). The basic
concept is that a site can be released of ONR earlier when the risks are similar to those
on a contaminated land site or disposal site; at this point the environmental regulators
(Environment Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Natural Resources
Wales) take over the responsibility for regulating the site. This will require some
changes to law (primary legislation, dated 1965, by-laws, and additional regulatory
guidance).
NDA has redefined its definition of the SES recognizing it is a balance between the
three parameters: physical state (including radioactive inventory), controls, and use.
The balance will depend on the technical aspects and social context of the site in ques-
tion. This approach provides the flexibility to define a SES based on the “cost” of
removing the inventory and using controls noting their impacts on the use, rather than
the use being the deciding factor.
The exact mechanism for this approach has taken a while to develop and is not fully
clear as of May 2018; however, part of the mechanism is the proposed (GOV.UK,
2018), which has been circulated for consultation. Among other things, it enables
the regulation of radioactive subsurface structures and waste used to backfill voids