Risk Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Risk Management - Essay Example This proposal had been blocked by local bodies in the 90s, citing health hazards. To overcome strong resentment, the government was more than willing to develop partnerships with potential candidate sites. Geological disposal is a long-term waste management option involving the placement of radioactive waste in an engineered repository at between 200 and 1000 metres underground where rock structures provide a barrier against the escape of radioactivity. This process has been successful implemented in many countries in the west and the UK has also been a major beneficiary of this technique. However, there remains a core group in UK who find this hard to believe and have blocked moves by the government to implement it in many communities around UK. The UK has a history of failure of finding an acceptable site for the disposal of intermediate and high level radioactive waste (ILW and HLW). Limited space and local opposition are two factors that contribute to this problem. Under the circumstances, the largest volumes of waste are stored at the Sellafield site in West Cumbria, in addition to significant volumes of waste stored at the various nuclear power stations around the country. This is a temporary solution as, in addition to this waste, created through fifty years of nuclear operations, will be the waste produced by the decommissioning of the older generation of nuclear facilities. The current estimate of the total radioactive waste inventory after decommissioning is complete is around 238,400 m3 of ILW and 2,710 m3 of HLW. Higher activity waste from the nuclear, chemical, and biological industries, involved in military uses and academic research, is to be managed through long term geological disposal. This involves placing radioactive and other toxic wastes in facilities deep underground, where the rock structures will provide a barrier against radioactivity. The decision was in keeping with the recommendation of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) in July. Geological disposal was identified by CoRWM as being the option that would perform best in terms of security and protecting the public and the environment. In order to safeguard public interests, planning and development of geological disposal will be based on: 1. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority with shoulder all responsibilities and accountabilities to address