The International Situation

The whole world is going geological disposal:

• • Finland has started construction of its facility,
  • the US has an operational pilot project,
  • Sweden is close to finalising its plans and starting construction,
  • while the programmes in Canada, France and Switzerland are more advanced than the UK,
  • and even Germany, which has renounced future use of nuclear power, is adopting geological disposal for the waste it has already.

• Japan and South Korea are actively consulting and progressing on their plans.

Why?

Every major economy creates radioactive waste. Every country has examined the options, and drawn the same conclusion – place the waste in a safe environment deep beneath the ground far away from the surface environment and human habitation. Every country is also adopting the ‘consent-based’ approach.

GDFWatch has spoken to ordinary people in communities around the world who have been through a site selection process for their national GDF. Unsurprisingly, their concerns, experiences and hopes for the future are strikingly similar. We are planning a series of short films in which citizens from different countries express their thoughts on geological disposal and their experience of the siting process in their country.  The first video is from Switzerland.

You can find a lot more background information about geological disposal from a variety of international organisations, eg:

• International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA)
• OECD-NEA (Nuclear Energy Authority)
• Forum for Stakeholder Confidence (FSC)
• Implementing Geological Disposal of radioactive waste Technology Platform (IGD-TP)
• European Commission

In November 2017, the British Radioactive Waste Management Organisation published a review and analysis of siting projects from around the world.

You can also read what the media across the world are saying about geological disposal.