Solid Radioactive Waste Strategy Report.pdf - UK EPR

EPR UK
N° NESH-G/2008/en/0123
REV. A PAGE 30 / 257
· Throughout the whole life-cycle of a facility the documents and records that might
be required for decommissioning purposes should be identified, prepared, updated
and retained (DC.6);
· Organisational arrangements should be established and maintained to ensure safe
and effective decommissioning of facilities (DC.7);
· The safety management system should be periodically reviewed and modified as
necessary prior to and during decommissioning (DC.8).
The HSE and the Environment Agency regulate nuclear sites under a Memorandum of
Understanding [Ref.12]. This ensures a complementary approach to the management of
radioactive waste.
Updated regulatory guidance on the management of ILW (and HLW) was issued in December
2007 [Ref.13].
The HSE and the Environment Agency have produced guidance on the Generic Design
Assessment (GDA) process for New Nuclear Power Stations [Ref.14]. This guidance outlines
the steps in the GDA process and the information that the Requesting Parties must provide in
order for the regulators to assess the adequacy of the UK EPR.
3.5 Environment Agency
The Environment Agency was established by the 1995 Environment Act and is a Non-
Departmental Public Body of the DEFRA. The Environment Agency in England and Wales and
Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in Scotland regulate the discharge or disposal
of radioactive waste. This encompasses discharges into the atmosphere, sea, controlled waters
and transfer for disposal at another site (for example to the Low Level Waste Repository
(LLWR)). Discharges of radioactive waste to the environment (by all media) require
authorisation under the RSA93. The Environment Agency have developed interim principles for
Radioactive Substances Regulation [Ref.15]. Central to these principles is the selection of the
Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) for radioactive waste management and
application of the Best Available Technique (BAT) to minimise the volume and activity of waste
produced.
3.5.1 Radioactive Substances Regulation Environmental Principles
The Environment Agency provides interim guidance to their regulators to underpin decisions
that they make relating to radioactive substances regulations [Ref.16]. The Radioactive
Substances Regulation Environmental Principles (REPs) relating to radioactive waste are as
follows:
· A strategy should be produced for the management of all radioactive substances;
· Producers, owners and users of radioactive substances should be accountable for the
costs of managing and disposing of their radioactive substances, for associated
regulation and research and for rectifying environmental damage;
· Organisations should learn from their own and others’ experience so as to continually
improve their ability to protect the environment;