Speaker
Description
Introduction: Foundational work has been undertaken by the UK’s Integrated Waste Management Programme (IWMP) to understand the current and aspirational future state of sustainability practice in radioactive waste management in the UK, and to establish a common perspective across the nuclear sector. This paper will describe the gap and the response to deliver the necessary thought-leadership in waste and tools for change and how sustainable practices can be driven throughout the radioactive waste management while ensuring safety is maintained.
The waste challenge: The UK has over 4 million cubic metres of radioactive waste still to be recovered and managed to clean-up the UK’s historical nuclear sites, and a new generation of nuclear power stations is set to be built requiring ongoing waste management capability.
A coordinated approach: The IWMP has been established to enable improvements in the management of waste from the nuclear sector to optimise and accelerate decommissioning and remediation, and to support the UK Government’s Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions and wider sustainability commitments. The IWMP is made up of a wide range of stakeholders including waste producers, regulators and government. It also involves service and supply chain providers; access to a robust radioactive waste management supply chain being one of the key enablers of optimized safe and sustainable waste management in the UK.
The baseline: As part of the baseline study on sustainability in radioactive waste management, the IWMP engaged with personnel from across the industry (ranging from individuals supervising the sort and segregation of waste to staff in procurement functions and our safety community). A clear appetite and desire to act more sustainably was evidenced, together with a lack of knowledge and understanding on the ‘how to’ in relation to people’s own area of work and ways of working.
The response: The IWMP has established a Sustainability Programme to collectively drive forward the marbling of sustainability through radioactive waste management and the people capability and infrastructure that underpins it. Working together with industry stakeholders, the programme is working towards turning words into meaningful action, resources and tools.
Summary: This paper will describe the baseline-study findings and roadmap for change, aligned to key UN Sustainable Development Goals. It will also showcase some of the tools developed to date to support industry stakeholders on their journey to embed sustainability within their organization while maintaining safety throughout the management of radioactive waste.
