Department for Energy and Climate Change written statement – made at on 20 July 2015.
I am pleased to announce today the publication of the fifth annual report of the Government’s Implementing Geological Disposal Programme. The programme is focused on implementing the geological disposal of higher activity radioactive waste.
The UK Government remains firmly committed to geological disposal as the right policy for the long-term safe and secure management of higher-activity radioactive waste, and continues to favour a voluntarist approach based on working with communities that are willing to participate in the siting process.
The publication of the Implementing Geological Disposal White Paper in July 2014 set out the policy framework for the future implementation of geological disposal in the UK. Government has been progressing the ‘Initial Actions’ set out in the White Paper, and formal discussions between interested communities and the developer will not begin until the ‘Initial Actions’ have been completed.
The 5th annual report can be found at: http://www.gov.uk/decc. I have also written to the Chairs of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee and the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, and I have made available copies in the Libraries of the House.