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Finding our GDF site - Areas of Focus

To find out more about Areas of Focus, visit our website: www.nuclearwasteservices.uk/disposal/geological-disposal/areas-of-focus/ Finding our GDF site - Areas of Focus A Geological Disposal Facility, or GDF, is the safest permanent way to dispose of our most hazardous radioactive waste. GDF Community Partnerships across the country are currently involved in our search to find the right site. The Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency regulate geological disposal, and it's NWS's job to find a site and design a GDF that would work with the characteristics of that site to safely isolate and contain radioactive waste. A GDF will comprise three elements - a surface location, the right geological environment deep underground for the disposal area, and the ability to connect the two accessways. The disposal area may be built directly under land or in a Search Area at the coast. It may be built deep under the seabed. The process to find an area suitable for a GDF starts with Site Evaluation. Earlier in the process, Working Groups identified Search Areas and preferences for us to investigate to see if they have the right characteristics for a GDF. Site Evaluation starts with desktop research and surveys conducted with technical specialists. Search areas can be large, and carrying out comprehensive feasibility studies would be challenging. So, next we identify potentially suitable locations within a search area and adjacent inshore areas called Areas of Focus. This is the first step towards finding locations with the potential to host a GDF. We have considered constraints as set out in the relevant planning policy and other requirements linked to the Six Siting Factors. The point of this stage isn't to define an exact site, just to decide which areas to take forward for Site Characterisation. The decision has to be approved by the Secretary of State. Site Characterisation will involve investigations such as drilling boreholes, to give us a more detailed understanding of the geological environment, and whether an area could safely host a GDF. The majority of boreholes are likely to take place in the Areas of Focus, but surveys and investigations will also be needed outside these areas. We will need to obtain permissions for Site Characterisation. The exact location for borehole drilling will be determined through consultation and environmental assessment work. Over many years, we will use borehole data, together with results from research and development, to build our understanding of whether an area could safely host a GDF. Then based on that understanding, NWS will either develop a more detailed GDF designs or decide not to progress any further with that community. It is possible that we could find reasons why an area wouldn't work and take it out of the process. Our designs would include the surface facilities, accessways and disposal areas. All the way through, we assess the suitability of a site against Six Siting Factors. We will need more permissions to construct a GDF. The proposed GDF surface, subsurface site and connecting accessways will be determined through consultation and environmental assessment work. The whole process to identify the proposed site is expected to take 10 to 15 years, while constructing, operating and closing the facility would take 150 years or more.