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Nuclear Waste (Summary of nuclear waste (Whilst a number of facilities…

- - - - The decision to site the facility near disposal likely rested more on an assumed 'measure of support' in the surrounding communities, rather than on a formal technical analysis of site suitability. the nuclear industry is the dominant employer in West Cumbria and there is generally widespread support in the community for the expansion of the industry. (Bickerstaff, 2012)
      - Nirex identified a need to build a RFC to investigate the properties of the potential host rock at Sellafield. This was widely rejected by Cumbria County Council and environmental groups who considered the plan a 'trojan horse' for an intended nuclear waste repository. indeed it was later revealed there were plans for building of a waste deposit to begin before the results of the RCF would be returned. (Bickerstaff, 2012)
      - Nirex operated in a culture of secrecy and later admitted to suppressing scientific information and deliberately misinterpreting research findings. they were accused of fiddling figures to show that waste disposal at Sellafield was safer than it really was (Guardian 2003).
      - The top down, secret operations of Nirex generated a great deal of public hostility. the decision making process leading up to the identification of the RCF site lacked transparency. Indeed many of the negative cultural and political effects of the experience with Nirex in the 1990s persisted in to the present for many people living in Copeland (W Cumbria). (Bickerstaff, 2012)
- - - - This early turbulence in the Committee’s work clearly illustrates the apparent dichotomy between the pre-2000 expert-led science-based process of decision-making and the new attempt to involve deeply both public and stakeholders in the process of reaching decisions