Radioactive waste
Radioactive waste can originate from research, the health sector, nuclear power and nuclear decommissioning. As a devolved issue it is the aim of Scottish Government to achieve a high level of safety in radioactive waste management that protects individuals and the environment and doesn’t place an unnecessary burden on future generations.
Radioactive waste management in this context means all activities, including nuclear decommissioning activities, which relate to the handling, pre-treatment, treatment, conditioning, storage or disposal of radioactive waste, including discharges.
We commit to fulfilling our legal and international obligations in respect of radioactive waste management and report on progress to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by contributing to the UK reports as required under Article 32 of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (‘Joint Convention’).
In recent years we have made significant progress in safely storing and disposing of low-level radioactive waste. Further research and public engagement is required before a disposal route can be found for Scotland’s higher-activity waste.
We set out our national policy on radioactive waste in 2007.
This page contains information on our policies regarding:
- UK policy framework for managing radioactive substances and nuclear decommissioning
- the Dounreay radioactive waste substitution
- higher-activity radioactive waste
- Dounreay radioactive waste substitution
UK policy framework for managing radioactive substances and nuclear decommissioning
Scotland is part of an updated UK wide policy framework for nuclear decommissioning and managing radioactive substances covering a number of reserved and devolved policy issues. The updated framework sets out clearly those policies that apply jointly across the UK and any separate policies that apply in any one nation, including in Scotland. This covers;
- background about radioactive substances
- international guidelines, regulations, and obligations
- the UK regulatory framework – roles and responsibilities
- the UK’s approach to managing radioactive substances
- managing radioactive sources on civil and non-nuclear sites
- managing radioactive liquid and gaseous discharges
- managing solid radioactive waste in the nuclear and non-nuclear sectors
- nuclear decommissioning
- import and export of radioactive substances
- managing nuclear materials
Higher-activity radioactive waste
Scotland also has its own policy for the management of higher-activity radioactive waste (HAW). This policy sets out that the long-term management of HAW should be in near-surface facilities located as near as possible to the site where the waste was produced.
Developers must demonstrate how the facilities will be monitored and how waste packages or waste could be retrieved.
Further information:
- Scotland’s higher-activity radioactive waste policy, published 2011
- Higher-activity radioactive waste: implementation strategy, published 2016
Dounreay radioactive waste substitution
The UK and Scottish Governments concluded in 2012 that a waste substitution policy for radioactive waste arising from overseas research reactor fuel reprocessing contracts is an acceptable practice that the NDA can adopt to deal with historic Dounreay contracts.