Public Meeting On the Physical End State Of Dounreay Site

12th February 2007

Public Meeting Thursday 15th February at 6.00pm - Royal Hotel
Public Exhibition Thursday 15th February from 2.00pm

Options to agree the physical condition of the land that will be available after the Dounreay site has been decommissioned - the site end state - will be the subject of a public meeting. This will allow the Dounreay Stakeholder Group (DSG) to draft a recommendation for consideration by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

On Thursday 15th February, in the Royal Hotel, Thurso at 1800 hrs, the DSG will review the consultation process and the responses submitted from the public consultation to help arrive at a recommendation for the future. A drop-in exhibition will be available from 1400 hrs for anyone who would like to view the options and their potential impacts.

The options for the End State are:

• Minimal restoration of the site
• Remaining a licensed site, cleared of redundant buildings
• Restored site, with natural attenuation
• Restored site, with early release of land
• Maximum practicable restoration

The stakeholder group have been asked to deliver a recommendation to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority by the end of March 2007. On behalf of the stakeholder group, UKAEA, working with consultants Quintessa and Faulkland Associates Ltd, held workshops with a representative range of people to debate the pros and cons of the feasible options. A non-technical summary was issued to over 1200 registered stakeholders to elicit views.

Alastair MacDonald, stakeholder group chairman, said: "The DSG has played an overseeing role in the consultation carried out by UKAEA and its consultants. It is not an easy subject to get to grips with because it has so many varying aspects. We will be listening to the views that have been received and, as a group, come forward with a draft recommendation for final review at the March stakeholder group meeting before delivering to the NDA at the end of March."

"We are holding this meeting in public so that anyone with an interest can attend - this is about the future of the site and there will be an opportunity for anyone to scrutinise the work done so far."

John Farquhar, NDA regional director, said: "Defining the end state of the Dounreay site is vitally important to the whole decommissioning process - if you don't know what you are aiming for it is impossible to plan how to deliver it. But it is also important for the whole community. For example, there is no reason why some sort of industrial activity could not continue - after all, the Dounreay site has an excellent infrastructure of roads, heating, electricity, water, security and so on. It would be very wasteful to completely dismantle that infrastructure only to find it will be needed again in the future. The end state does need to be environmentally and technically feasible, financially affordable and in line with national strategy. Beyond that there is real flexibility in what can be left for future generations. I would urge everyone to participate in this process which is important for the whole community."

Doug Graham , UKAEA project manager, said: "The work has been progressing well throughout last year and has allowed us to consider a range of local values and opinions when developing the options. A considerable amount of work was done to discuss the options and develop the assessment criteria, with focussed workshops to gather views before going out to wider consultation. The Decision Conference is an important aspect of the whole process".