Under the Committee’s terms of reference, it is responsible for scrutinising and providing advice to Scottish government ministers on their programme for managing higher activity radioactive waste in Scotland.
At the site the Committee received a number of presentations on progress being made to decommission the site and to recover and treat the radioactive waste. Members of the Committee visited the Dounreay Cementation Plant, the Intermediate Level Waste stores, and the new Low Level Waste disposal facility. Some Members visited the Dounreay Fast Reactor to see the progress that is being made in decommissioning and radioactive waste management.
Following the visit the Chair commented on “the clarity, enthusiasm and candidness of the facility managers who conducted the tours of the facilities and who had answered CoRWM’s questions”. The Chair also noted that “in relation to the conditioning and storage of radioactive waste the staff at Dounreay seemed highly committed to delivering a good job” As a result of the visit, the Committee has agreed to take a more detailed look at interim storage of radioactive waste across Scotland.