Nuleaf (Nuclear Legacy Advisory Forum) - annual report to LGA Board 2023

Lead Member: Cllr David Moore, Cumberland Council

Lead Officer: Philip Matthews, Nuleaf

Email: [email protected]

Address: c/o Suffolk County Council, Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich, IP1 2BX

Telephone: 01473 264833

Website: www.nuleaf.org.uk

Contributing members

1. Cumberland Council

2. East Suffolk Council

3. Essex County Council

4. Folkestone & Hythe District Council

5. Gloucestershire County Council 

6. Gwynedd Council

7. Lincolnshire County Council

8. Manchester City Council

9. South Gloucestershire Council

10. Somerset County Council

11. Suffolk County Council

12. Westmorland & Furness Council

13. Ynys Mon County Council

Corresponding members

14. Arun District Council

15. Ashford District Council

16. Birmingham City Council

17. Blackpool Borough Council

18. Braintree Borough Council

19. Breckland District Council

20. Broadland District Council

21. Bromsgrove District Council

22. Carlisle City Council

23. Chelmsford Borough Council

24. Chesterfield Borough Council

25. Cheshire West and Chester Council

26. Colchester Borough Council

27. Cornwall Council

28. Dacorum District Council

29. Denbighshire County Council

30. Derby City Council

31. Derbyshire Dales District Council

32. Devon County Council

33. Dorset County Council

34. Durham County Council

35. Eden District Council

36. Flint District Council

37. Forest of Dean District Council

38. Forest Heath District Council

39. Fylde Borough Council

40. Great Yarmouth Borough Council

41. Greater London Authority

42. Halton Borough Council

43. Hampshire County Council

44. Harlow District Council

45. Hartlepool Borough Council

46. Hyndburn Borough Council

47. Kent County Council

48. Kings Lynn & West Norfolk District Council

49. Lancashire County Council

50. Lancaster City Council

51. Leeds City Council

52. Lewes District Council

53. Liverpool City Council

54. London Borough of Hackney

55. London Borough of Harrow

56. London Borough of Hillingdon

57. London Borough of Newham

58. London Borough of Tower Hamlets

59. Maldon District Council

60. Melton Borough Council

61. Merseyside Environmental Advisory Service

62. Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council

63. Norfolk County Council

64. Northamptonshire County Council

65. North East Derbyshire District Council

66. North London Waste Planning

67. North Norfolk District Council

68. Norwich City Council

69. Nottinghamshire County Council

70. Northumberland County Council

71. Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council

72. Oxfordshire County Council

73. Pembrokeshire County Council

74. Plymouth City Council

75. Rutland County Council

76. Scarborough District Council

77. Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council

78. South Ribble Borough Council

79. Southampton City Council

80. South Norfolk District Council

81. Stroud District Council

82. Spelthorne Borough Council

83. Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

84. Taunton Deane Borough Council

85. Tendring District Council

86. Tunbridge Wells District Council

87. Vale of the White Horse District Council

88. Wansbeck District Council

89. West Berkshire District Council

90. West Lindsey District Council

91. Worcestershire County Council

NFLA authorities

92. Caerphilly County Council

93. Cardiff City Council

94. Hull City Council

95. Leeds City Council

National Parks Authorities

96. Lake District National Park Authority 

97. North Yorkshire Moors National Park Authority

98. Snowdonia National Park Authority

Nuleaf’s Aims are set out in the Terms of Reference document:

“The Aims are:

• to seek to ensure that all nuclear, waste management and decommissioning activities operate to the highest safety, security and environmental standards
• to raise the profile of debate within local government on any issue with very significant implications for any area affected by future proposed radioactive waste development
• to increase and aid ‘capacity building’ within local government and enable informed responses to Government and the NDA from a broader based local government grouping
• to be an interface with government and the NDA on future strategic radioactive waste policy, decommissioning and liabilities management issues
• to confer greater democratic legitimacy on Government and NDA engagement processes in the decommissioning and legacy management sphere
• to add weight and credibility to the current local government input into the radioactive waste, decommissioning and liabilities engagement processes now in hand
• to effectively utilise the democratic legitimacy of local government and increase influence over policy and strategy proposals that will be critical to national progress on nuclear industry legacy issues
• to provide representatives on Government and NDA consultation, stakeholder and advisory bodies reporting back to local government through the SIG mechanism to lever resources, in addition to those conferred through the establishment of a SIG, to enable ‘capacity building’ within local government so that Government policy can develop with broad based democratic consent.”

General activities

• Held 3 online and 1 in-person Steering Group meetings and 4 online meetings of the Radioactive Waste Planning Group. Meeting topics included: update on site activities and work programme development at Magnox including an update on lifetime plans, jobs and skills associated with the Geological Disposal Facility (GDF), updates on ONR, LLWR and NDA activities, NDA Economic Impact Reports, the work of the Nuclear Industry Association, review of the Guidance for Requirements for Authorisation (2009) and Guidance on Requirement for Release from Radioactive Substances Regulation (GRR).
• Published 7 newsletters for contributing member authorities, 4 e-bulletins issued to full mailing list and responded to 2 consultations, circulating draft responses as appropriate to members both for comment and as a resource for their own responses.
• Responded to consultations on: NDA Draft Business Plan 2023-26, West Berkshire Local Plan and submitted evidence to the Science and Technology Committee call for evidence on their ‘Delivering Nuclear Power’ inquiry.

Geological Disposal Facility Siting Process

• Held quarterly meetings with Simon Hughes, Community Engagement and Siting Director at Nuclear Waste Services.
• Participated in meetings of the EURAD Civil Society Group, focussed on the routes for radioactive waste management within Europe and the methodology for evaluating the research programme.
• Held quarterly meetings of member authorities who are engaged in the siting process.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

• Participated in Theme Overview Group, Low Level Waste National Waste Programme and Strategy 4 development meetings.
• Continued engagement with government on work on in-situ disposal of radioactive waste for nuclear licensed sites.
• Invited a wide range of speakers from Magnox, NDA, government, and the regulators to both Steering Group and Radioactive Waste Planning Group meetings to present on a range of issues of interest to the membership.
• a number of Nuleaf member authorities attended the NDA Stakeholder Summit. Nuleaf’s Chair and Executive Director participated in a panel discussions.
• Hosted discussions with NDA on the review of their Local Economic and Social Impact Strategy.

Other activities:

• Organised a meeting for Nuleaf’s Welsh member authorities addressing issues particular to their authorities.
• Held meetings with the Office for Nuclear Regulation to discuss Emergency Planning and security at nuclear licensed sites.
• Commissioned a report on the social value and community benefits generated by the work of NDA, and on community benefits packages in other countries.