Date set for underground radioactive waste dump vote
Last updated at 20:25, Thursday, 16 August 2012
People will find out on October 11 whether West Cumbria is to remain part of a project to build an underground nuclear dump.
Cumbria County Council’s cabinet and the executives of Allerdale council and Copeland council will meet individually on that day to decide whether to continue in the process and search for possible sites.
Over the last four years, the West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely Partnership, which included representatives of the councils and other community bodies, investigated the possibility of West Cumbria hosting a high-level nuclear waste repository.
Following the publication of its final report, the councils will decide whether to stay involved or pull out.
For either borough to continue in the project, both the county council and borough council must agree.
If either or both vote against the scheme, that borough will immediately cease to be involved in the project.
After a ‘yes’ vote, the Department of Energy and Climate Change would need to formally agree to the process continuing.
The next stage would involve detailed desktop studies of the area’s geology which could take up to five years.
After that would come physical geological testing of potentially suitable sites, which could take 10 years.
The three councils were the only ones in the country to express an interest in the Government project.
In a presentation to Workington Town Council on Wednesday, partnership programme manager Rhuari Bennett said that an average of 550 people would be employed a year for the next 140 years.
First published at 19:22, Thursday, 16 August 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk
This is an absolute disgrace. Looking at the plans the area to be turned into a dump is 1 mile from Silloth and covers a massive area. Virtually no one in the area has been aware of this until a free paper in the town detailed it last week. It would destroy a large community and town, the rural community would be ruined as would be an area of outstanding natural beauty. There has been no consultation for local people whatsoever. A small telephone poll is not acceptable. You are on the road to desecrating Cumbria and we must raise strong opposition to this both locally , nationally and internationally. Allerdale council should be ashamed of themselves. Every other county in the UK has said absolutely no dump in their county. Allerdale are putting our county forward. It is a potential environmental, social and economic disaster ...and for what? Come on people of Cumbria , we have put up with enough, it is time to fight back.
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of course it will be a yes vote..why do you think allerdale is saying yes to all these new housing projects..doesnt take many brain cells to work this one out..
Posted by glennys wiggin on 22 August 2012 at 19:40