Overview

On 7 December 2010, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (“DECC”) published three consultations relating to the management of nuclear waste and decommissioning of nuclear power stations.

The first consultation relates to revised guidance on how to satisfy the requirements for a funded decommissioning programme (“FDP”) which the Energy Act 2008 requires operators of new nuclear power stations to have approved by the Secretary of State of Energy and Climate Change and set in place before constructing a new nuclear power station.

The second consultation relates to the methodology for pricing the transfer of title to and liability for intermediate level waste (“ILW”) and spent fuel from the operator to the Government (the “Waste Transfer Pricing Methodology”).

The third relates to the “Strategy for the management of solid low level radioactive waste from the non-nuclear industry in the United Kingdom” and is aimed at non-nuclear industry radioactive waste managers (including hospitals, the pharmaceutical sector, research and education establishments), environmental regulators and waste planning bodies and is relevant to all operators of waste disposal facilities.