Speaker Andrew Walters

Rotary club of Stirling meeting of 22nd June.

President Stewart Wilson welcomed our speaker Andrew Walters. Next week's meeting is the presidential hand over.  As part of our ongoing contact, Tom Thomson paid a visit to Castleview school last week.

Our speaker Andrew Walters, an environmental planner, is a member of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management, an independent body which provides the government with advice on decommissioning, handling and storage of radioactive material. They have rights of access to all groups involved, including power generation, the health service and the military, and their recommendations must be acted upon. A recent major investigation covered, long term storage, research and development, and mechanisms for discussing future storage options. High level contamination waste spent fuel etc, a relatively small volume, is vitrified and buried at a depth of at least 300 metres. There is a larger amount of intermediate waste, such as equipment and clothing which is again rendered solid before burial, while low level waste is compacted before disposal. All in all there are about 650,000 cubic metres of high activity waste to be dealt with, much of which requires to be buried at 100 metres depth, but whatever method is used it must remain accessible in case problems arise, thus ruling out the sea or outer space. The most radioactive material must be stored for more than
10,000 years. An important and controversial part of the committee's work relates to identifying suitable sites for future disposal, both in terms of geology, and local acceptability. At the end of discussions, a development consent order, [ planning permission], process will be put in motion.  Andrew's excellent talk provoked several questions, both on fact and opinion, and it was clear that members had been very interested in what he had said.

Next week's meeting 29th June is the presidential handover Visitor's host Tom Thomson.

Ian Richardson