Council leader prepares to end nuclear waste talks

Lincolnshire County Council will pull out of talks to bury nuclear waste in the area unless it receives "significant" further information about the plan, the leader of the authority has said.

Councillor Martin Hill called on Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) to "comprehensively explain the benefits and costs" of the proposal for a Geological Disposal Facility at a site near Louth.

A formal decision to withdraw, which could be taken by the council's executive, would effectively put an end to the proposal.

NWS said the long-term benefits of the GDF would include "local workforce opportunities" and "improvements to local transport and infrastructure".

But the government body requires "a willing community" in order to go ahead.

Two other sites, both in Cumbria, are also under consideration.

The GDF would see nuclear waste being stored beneath up to 1,000m (3,300ft) of solid rock until its radioactivity had naturally decayed.

In 2021, Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) formed a community partnership group with NWS and East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) to examine the proposal.

At that stage, a former gas terminal in Theddlethorpe, near Mablethorpe, was being considered for a surface facility, which would provide access to a storage area extending 22km (14 miles) under the seabed.

However, in January this year, NWS said it had moved the proposed location of the surface facility to land between Gayton le Marsh and Great Carlton.

Last month, ELDC withdrew from the scheme, stating that it would "scar" agricultural land.

Hill said LCC joined with "an open mind, knowing that residents themselves could make the decision as to whether it was right for the area".

However, moving the potential site had "changed the very nature of the proposal and raised further concerns within the local community".

"We had planned to put the decision on whether to remain within the partnership to a public vote next year, but it has become increasingly apparent that the community is getting frustrated with the uncertainty and slow pace of this process," Hill said.

"Unless NWS can provide significant further details about their plans that would reassure the local community and comprehensively explain the benefits and costs, it is my intention to withdraw from the process altogether.

"This will need to be a formal decision, taken at a meeting of the council's executive."

Simon Hughes, NWS siting and communities director, said: "We understand LCC's current position.

"LCC has advocated for residents to have the opportunity to have access to the information they need to make an informed decision about hosting a GDF."

Mr Hughes said NWS had "held many public events" and "met regularly with local people and stakeholders". It had also granted more than £2m to community projects.

He cited long-term potential benefits, including "providing the community with significant opportunities for a local workforce, skills and education" and "improvements to local transport and infrastructure".

Mike Crookes, who chairs the campaign group Guardians of the East Coast said: "There's been a litany of LCC in particular just kicking the can down the road and trying to elongate this process.

"We are a bit reticent of overwhelmingly saying 'hip hip hooray'."

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