SENIOR councillors will next week get a progress report on a proposed Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) for west Cumbria.
Members of Cumberland Council’s nuclear issues board are due to meet at Allerdale House in Workington on Monday (March 23) where they will get the nuclear issues update
According to the report Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) is now finalising its advice to the Secretary of State on which community, or communities, could move forward to site characterisation.
It states: “The advice is due to be submitted to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) in May 2026.
“NWS has made clear there is no specific time frame within which the Secretary of State must respond and while we may expect DESNZ to respond as soon as practicable, they will want to give themselves flexibility to take as long as they need to consider the matter properly before announcing decisions.
“DESNZ will need to decide on the appropriate form of final decisions, for example it could be a written ministerial statement to Parliament, and on how to engage with stakeholders about the conclusions they reach.”
According to the report information about the six siting factors that underpin the site evaluation work has been published on the NWS website and social media channels.
It states: “Information about the site characterisation stage of work has also
been published on the NWS website and was included in the Community Partnership December newsletters.”
According to the report NWS has commissioned consultants Intera to produce a report examining other major infrastructure projects, including tunnelling projects and overseas GDF projects, to provide information about how local communities may be impacted.
It adds: “The study is anticipated to take approximately six months to complete though the South Copeland Community Partnership hopes to share early findings with residents this summer.
“The Mid Copeland Partnership held an introduction to GDF for young people at Muncaster on February 18. Thirteen people aged 18 to 26 discussed how engagement might work best with people their age. Applications are now open to young people to join the youth group with the first meeting on April 16 at the Beacon Whitehaven.”
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