Other sites considered for nuclear waste disposal

A government agency says it is "considering other options" for the location of a nuclear waste disposal site on the Lincolnshire coast.

Nuclear Waste Services' (NWS) plans for a geological disposal facility (GDF) includes a land-based facility which would accept waste and send it through tunnels to a disposal area under the sea.

The search has been focussed on a former gas terminal in Theddlethorpe but, in an update issued on Tuesday, NWS said "competing interests" in the site had "matured" over the past year.

It added a "range of studies" was being carried out in the search area which includes the electoral wards of Mablethorpe and Withern and Theddlethorpe.

In the update, NWS' communities director Simon Hughes said: "No decisions on these options have been made at this stage, we will publish an update early next year and our teams will be out in communities to explain our findings, hear feedback and consider next steps."

The idea of a GDF was first proposed more than three years ago.

NWS said the multimillion-pound project would create jobs, improve transport links and boost the local economy.

It hosted a series of consultation events in the Theddlethorpe area to explain the plans in more detail and answer residents' questions.

In response, campaigners said it would be "disastrous" for the seaside economy.

Guardians of the East Coast said a survey of more than 1,000 visitors to the resorts of Mablethorpe and Skegness found the "great majority" would be put off coming to the area.

Victoria Atkins, MP for Louth and Horncastle, described the widening scope of the plans as "deeply worrying" and said residents would feel "betrayed".

“I, alongside many of my constituents, oppose this nuclear waste dump in our area," she said.

"I urge the community partnership to hold a referendum in the next 12 months so that residents can have their say and take control of our area's future."

By Paul Murphy

BBC Look North Environment Correspondent

This is a significant development in the plans to dispose of nuclear waste on the Lincolnshire coast.

For more than three years, Nuclear Waste Services has been eyeing up the former Theddlethorpe gas terminal as a suitable location for the land-based part of its geological storage facility or GDF.

This facility would receive the nuclear waste before transporting it through tunnels to rocks deep beneath the sea.

But, since NWS announced its plans in 2021, the gas terminal site has attracted other interest from other energy industries.

There are proposals for a carbon capture and storage facility there, the possibility of a gas-fired power station and the site is also being considered as a location to bring electricity cables ashore from North Sea windfarms.

In other words - it’s getting crowded.

The proposed location for the under-sea disposal site remains unchanged.

But NWS is now widening its search for the land-based facility.

Crucially, this search will be confined to two electoral wards – Mablethorpe and Withern and Theddlethorpe.

But NWS will not identify a specific location until next year.

This will inevitably create uncertainty and, for those opposed to the GDF, significant concern.

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