FAQs

20. How does this differ from very low level waste going to landfill?

This process is an entirely separate one specifically for the country’s higher activity radioactive waste. This is waste that cannot be managed under the procedures for low level waste. Higher activity radioactive waste includes high level waste, intermediate level waste and some low level waste (with a long half-life) that cannot be sent to the Low Level Waste Repository.

This waste is currently located at 34 sites around the UK but most is at Sellafield and at power stations.

The details about exactly what waste could be sent to a facility is something that the Partnership will be looking at as part of its work.

For a fuller description of the different types of waste see below

In the UK, radioactive waste is classified under the following broad categories:

• High Level Wastes (HLW) – these are highly radioactive and generate substantial amounts of heat. HLW is a product from reprocessing spent nuclear fuel at Sellafield in Cumbria. If declared a waste, spent fuel would also be categorised as HLW.

• Intermediate Level Wastes (ILW) – these are wastes where the radioactively levels are higher than for Low Level Waste, but which do not require heat levels to be taken into account in the design of management facilities. ILW is sufficiently radioactive to require shielding and containment. It arises mainly from the reprocessing of spent fuel and from operations and maintenance at nuclear sites.

• Low Level Waste (LLW) – Unlike HLW and ILW, LLW does not normally require shielding during handling or transport. Currently, LLW consists largely of paper, plastics and scrap metal items that have been used in hospitals, research establishments and the nuclear industry. In future there will be large volumes in the form of soil, concrete and steel, as nuclear plant are decommissioned.

• Very Low Level Waste (VLLW) – this is a sub-category of LLW, consisting of the same sorts of materials, and divided into Low Volume („dustbin loads‟) and High Volume („bulk disposal‟). Low volume VLLW can be disposed of to unspecified destinations with municipal, commercial or industrial waste. High volume VLLW can be disposed of to specified landfill sites and controls are necessary as specified by the environmental regulators.

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