£2.5M-A-YEAR TO STORE NUCLEAR WASTE
The incentive being offered to our towns and villages to take radioactive materials
VILLAGES and towns in North Wales could be offered millions of pounds to allow nuclear waste to be stored there.
The government is trying to find places willing to be home to a disposal site, with the radioactive waste being buried up to 200 metres below ground.
Any area that did volunteer would be paid £1 million a year during the selection process, which would increase to £2.5 million a year once test bore holes were drilled.
There will also be the prospect of up to 1,000 jobs created through the schemes. The government’s consultation paper said: “A geological disposal facility (GDF) is a multi-billion pound infrastructure investment and is likely to have a transformative effect on the local and wider regional economies.
“Unlike employment in other major infrastructure projects that typically peaks within a few years then tails off, it will provide jobs and support related economic activity in the area for more than 100 years. Radioactive Waste Management estimates that a GDF will directly employ between 550 and 1,000 skilled, well-paid staff throughout the working life of the facility and help the development of local skills and the local supply chain, which are likely to provide significant long term benefits to the local area.
“The length of discussions before the test of public support will offer the potential host community an opportunity to understand how they can benefit from the jobs and other opportunities arising from the GDF from early on in its development.
“Community visioning and early investment funding could also be used to develop the local skills base.”
Some of the radioactive material would remain on site for up to a quarter of a million years.
The UK has developed a 60-year legacy of nuclear waste which needs to be dealt with. More waste is set to be created with the opening of new plants, such as at Wylfa Newydd in North Wales.
The Welsh Government insisted that a facility will only be built in Wales if a community is willing to host it and a suitable and safe site can be found.
The government added any concerns about radiation would be discussed with interested parties.
Nearly all the radioactive material is so-called legacy waste, mostly from now closed nuclear power stations such as Wylfa on Anglesey and Trawsfynydd in Gwynedd.