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Geological Screening

Before a community can make a decision about whether or not to participate in the process of finding a site for an underground geological disposal facility, the Government requires the area to be screened to take out areas that are clearly geologically unsuitable and therefore make sure that there are places that could be geologically suitable for such a facility. There is obviously no point any community spending too much time considering this issue if there are no areas where the facility could be built.

Therefore the British Geological Survey (BGS), the UK independent geological experts, has been asked to look at the information that is already available about the geology of the whole of Allerdale and Copeland and up to 5 km offshore, and screen out any areas that clearly have unsuitable geology for a disposal facility, as outlined in the Government’s MRWS White Paper.

The screening will be led by the BGS Chief Geologist and carried out by a team of experienced BGS geoscientists. It will be a ‘desk based study’ only. This means that it will only use readily available information and will not undertake any drilling or field-based investigative studies. It will not be ‘in depth’ and there will be no consideration of non-geological factors.

This work will not provide any indication where a facility might eventually located. It is simply intended to avoid unnecessary work in areas which are clearly unsuitable on geological grounds.

It is also important to be aware that this work will only identify areas which are unsuitable for an underground facility. It does not directly affect where the surface facilities (e.g. the entrance to the tunnel and offices) could be located. The surface access facilities could be a number of miles from the underground facility and could therefore be located in an area that is found to be unsuitable for an underground facility.

The BGS study will therefore simply eliminate from the process any areas that are obviously geologically unsuitable for an underground facility based on the criteria set out in the MRWS White Paper. More rigorous assessment of a wide range of criteria will only be undertaken if West Cumbria then makes a ‘decision to participate’ in further stages of site selection. 

Consultation

We know that nuclear waste is a sensitive issue with a varied history in West Cumbria. The Partnership therefore intends to run a process of communications and consultation to give you an opportunity to:

• Find out more about the process.

• Ask questions on the process.

• Give your views on whether we should move to the next stage of investigations.

This work could take a number of forms, including articles in Allerdale Outlook, Copeland Matters, Your Cumbria and the local press, information on the Partnership's website, meetings of parish councils etc and a formal consultation or survey. This website will always contain the most up-to-date information on how to find out more and have your say.