Appendix CRF - Part 3 - Northamptonshire County Council

S40 What are the impacts of transporting the LLW to the site?
The safety of the transport of radioactive materials (including LLW with very
low radioactivity content) is governed by UK dangerous goods transport
regulations. These require the wastes to be contained in packages
appropriate for the level of radioactivity bearing in mind what would happen in
a transport accident.
If the waste were involved in an accident during transport to the site an
established response arrangement involving the emergency services
augmented by suitably qualified and experienced advisors and monitoring
specialists would be enacted. If waste were spilled it would be a simple
matter of recovering the spilt materials and sweeping the road. The levels of
radioactivity involved would not require extensive arrangements during the
recovery operation and the risk to members of the public from exposure to
radioactivity would be very low.
The number of vehicle movements and the environmental impact of transport
are not increased by this authorisation application because the total capacity
of the landfill is unchanged by the proposal.
S41 Have other alternatives to landfill disposal been considered?
Every site in the nuclear industry (which includes the power stations and
research sites) wishing to consign LLW to the landfill will first have to
demonstrate to the regulatory authorities that landfill of their waste is the Best
Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO). This is a requirement for the
consigning sites to be granted a transfer authorisation under the Radioactive
Substances Act which they will require to send wastes. They will also have to
demonstrate that they have complied with the waste hierarchy and have
therefore exhausted options to Reduce, Recycle and Reuse the materials.
Consideration of the BPEO requires all alternatives to be considered. In
some cases, for example, LLW can be treated, incinerated or recovered
through smelting. Landfill disposal will be considered as a last resort after
these other approaches have been considered.
It is likely the majority of LLW will arise from historically contaminated land
and buildings for which the other waste management options are generally
less applicable.
S42 What controls would be in place to ensure the LLW waste can be disposed of
safely?
The waste will be subject to pre-acceptance tests to ensure it is acceptable.
The waste will be checked upon arrival at the site. Radioactivity can be
easily and immediately measured using simple instruments to ensure waste
acceptability.
Application for disposal of LLW including HV-VLLW under RSA 1993,
for the East Northants Resource Management Facility:
Supporting Information
July 2009
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WS010001/ENRMF/CONSAPPCRF 335