SUMMARY OF OUR POLICY ON PROPOSED
GEOLOGICAL DISPOSAL FACILITY (GDF) IN WEST CUMBRIA
This short summary sets out our position with regard to the proposed build of a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) in West Cumbria. Following the Government’s call-out, three community partnerships have been formed in West Cumbria to investigate further the potential for building a GDF here. There is only one other community partnership in England at the monument (Theddlethorpe in Lincolnshire).
We are opposed to the GDF here for the following reasons.
The local geology has been looked at for this very purpose and been rejected as being unsuitable – the last time in 2013. This time much is being made of the potential for burying the waste under the sea, but this area is largely unexplored with much of it already subject to risk of destabilisation due to historic mine workings and existing nuclear waste.
The technology is unproven, yet the risks are potentially catastrophic. There is no functioning GDF in existence at the moment anywhere in the world yet we are being told to trust that today’s solution will last for the 100,000 years or so necessary in a manner that guarantees the safety of future generations. We simply do not know enough at this time.
Alternative technologies to reduce the toxicity of nuclear waste are evolving, as are different solutions to long term storage that may make it possible, for example, to retrieve problematic emplacements.
There is a danger that West Cumbria, instead of being perceived (and invested in) as the Green Energy Coast (the future), will be seen as simply the nuclear coast (the past) and this will deter the investment in production of renewable energy which we so desperately need.
A GDF will have a negative effect on tourism, on which Cumbria is so heavily dependent. Not only will there be the GDF itself but nuclear waste bound for it will be transported through the area on a regular basis.
The cost of developing, building and servicing a GDF is colossal. Initial costs have now risen to £53 billion but this is a grossly conservative figure.
The three community partnerships are now distributing public money to local charities etc. in an attempt to curry favour and build support for the GDF. We consider this to be immoral, especially in an area of considerable economic and social deprivation where help is sorely needed regardless of a GDF.
We will continue to monitor progress and put forward our views as the GDF story evolves.
Keith Fitton
Chair