We need to talk about the elephant in the room
It’s time to think about the long-term disposal of our higher-activity radioactive waste
'The elephant in the room' represents low public awareness surrounding radioactive waste disposal
We’ve used nuclear technologies to power our homes, for medical advances, to drive industry, and to defend our nation for over 60 years.
In fact, around a fifth of the UK’s electricity comes from nuclear energy. And, as a result, we’ve produced different types of radioactive waste.
Around 90% of the waste we’ve produced already has safe and established final disposal routes.
Now, we need to talk about how we keep the remaining 10% of our waste, which is classed as higher-activity radioactive waste, safe for the long term to protect future generations.
Geological disposal – doing the right thing
Geological disposal is internationally recognised as the best long-term solution for dealing with higher-activity radioactive waste.
Years of independent research tell us that geological disposal is the right thing to do to permanently dispose of this type of radioactive waste.
For this to happen, we would need to build a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF).
A Geological Disposal Facility uses the multiple barriers of human engineering and stable rock to ensure that no harmful levels of radiation ever reach the surface environment.
Countries, including Finland, Sweden, France, and Canada are already on their way to building Geological Disposal Facilities to permanently dispose of their higher level radioactive waste. Now it’s our turn.
We need to talk about GDF. Learn more about geological disposal here.