Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd -Low level waste

Low level waste

Solid low level radioactive waste is generated wherever nuclear materials are handled - from hospitals, laboratories and industry as well as the nuclear fuel cycle.

It comprises paper, rags, tools, glass, concrete, clothing, scrap metal filters etc which contain small amounts of mostly short-lived radioactivity.

It is not dangerous to handle, but must be disposed of more carefully than normal industrial waste.

Its radioactivity is greater than the level allowed in ordinary landfill sites, but is below the level at which special precautions such as thick shielding are needed.

Solid low level radioactive waste has been generated at Dounreay since the first materials arrived in the 1950s.

Historically, this waste was disposed in a series of shallow pits at the site. These pits are full and will be emptied as part of the site clean-up.

Estimates have been made of the total volume of low-level waste that will be generated during the clean-out and demolition of the site. This is up to 175,000 cubic metres.

By volume, this accounts for more than 80 per cent of all radioactive waste that needs to be managed during site closure. By radioactivity, it is less than 0.1 per cent.

Solid low level waste from site decommissioning is managed in the Waste Receipt Assay Characterisation and Supercompaction facility, or WRACS, prior to being placed in temporary storage.

Dounreay carried out public consultation on the options for the long-term management of this waste. This concluded the waste should be disposed of in engineered, shallow facilities at or close to the site.

In July 2006, the site applied to Highland Council for planning permission to construct a series of vaults adjacent to Dounreay for disposal of this waste. An application was made to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in April 2008 for authorisation to dispose of the waste.

Highland Council granted conditional planning consent in January 2009. In March 2010, DSRL invited expressions of interest for the design and construction work. Construction work started in November 2011.

DSRL expects the disposal site to be available from 2014 onwards. Once decommissioning is complete, the site will be capped, landscaped and placed under care and surveillance for 300 years. It will be monitored during this time to provide reassurance that the decay of radioactivity does not pose a hazard to the wider environment.