Appendix CRF - Part 3 - Northamptonshire County Council

3.0 Policy and Regulatory Background
3.0.1 This section is not intended to be a comprehensive review and reference should
be made to the source documents for further detail. Points of particular
relevance to the application for authorisation are made.
3.1 Radioactive Substances Regulation
3.1.1 Regulation of LLW is summarised by the Environment Agency in “Considerations
for Radioactive Substances Regulation under the RSA 1993 at Nuclear Sites...”
(ref 2). Although the East Northants Resource Management Facility is not and
will not be a nuclear licensed site, the provisions apply to wastes that arise from
the nuclear industry who operate on nuclear licensed sites.
The Environment Agency is responsible under the Radioactive
Substances Act 1993 for regulating all disposals of LLW from nuclear
sites in England and Wales.
The Environment Agency issues authorisations (permits) which include
limits and conditions.
The Environment Agency regulates the “source” site which generates or
transfers the LLW and the “destination” disposal site which receives the
waste in the case of solid waste disposal.
In addition to issuing or varying authorisations, the Environment Agency
periodically reviews authorisations, carries out inspections, investigates
incidents, assesses public exposure and has powers of enforcement.
3.1.2 The guidance on requirements for authorisation (ref 18) for near-surface disposal
facilities for solid radioactive wastes has recently been issued. It is proposed that
this application falls outside of the scope of that guidance because the
application does not involve a facility solely for the disposal of solid radioactive
waste and can be assessed using simple conservative approaches. However,
the application has been prepared to be consistent with the guidance. The
following list describes key relevant points from the guidance and where they are
addressed by the application:
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 346