Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions have taken place between bodies associated with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the governments of the Republic of Ireland and the Isle of Man regarding potential transboundary impacts of activities associated with the planned construction of a geological disposal facility for the storage of high-level radioactive waste.

Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), a division of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, is the delivery body for the geological disposal facility (GDF). NWS meets with officials from the Republic of Ireland and the Isle of Man under the auspices of the regular UK-Ireland Contact Group to update them on the siting process for a GDF, including sighting them on potential impacts of activities it undertakes to identify a suitable location. The community consent-based process to identify and select a site in England is at an early stage. Currently, four possible areas are under consideration – three in Cumbria and one in Lincolnshire.