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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to invite councils to volunteer to be part of the Radioactive Waste Management search for a geological disposal facility host community.

In the 2014 Implementing Geological Disposal White Paper Government set out three initial actions which will provide greater clarity on issues such as geology, development impacts and community representation. Good progress is being made on these initial actions and Government expects to consult on the draft National Policy Statement and Working with Communities policy in the coming months, ahead of the launch of the official siting process.

As set out in the 2014 White Paper, once the siting process has been launched any interested community will be able to initiate discussions about the possibility of becoming the host community for a geological disposal facility.