November Newsletter: Radioactive Waste Management & Legal Updates
Prospect Law
A senior team of legal, technical and financial specialists serving international, renewables, cleantech & ESG clients.
Key Issues For Waste Management Organisation Consideration
What’s so difficult about dealing with radioactive waste?
The short answer is that scientifically and technologically it is very well understood, but the societal aspects are seemingly intractable at first sight, particularly with respect to the higher activity, more hazardous radioactive wastes – (almost) nobody wants it in their backyard! Even in the few countries which are near to implementing solutions for these difficult wastes, it has taken decades to get to that position, which has provided long-term careers for many of those involved, including the author of this article!
This article will provide a basic overview of radioactive waste issues, what long-term management options have been considered, how different countries are dealing with it and what is happening at the international level. We will keep the science to a necessary minimum, explaining why things are done the way they are.
Read the full article by John Mathieson on the Prospect Law Website.
November Legal Updates
Environmental Law
European Union Moves to Further Criminalise Environmental Damage
The European Union has reached a provisional agreement on the implementation of a proposed EU law to improve the prosecution and investigation of severe environmental damage. The new directive aims to replace the outdated 2008 version to define environmental crime more precisely and provide sanctions to better protect the environment. The directive will intend to criminalise actions that cause widespread, substantial, and irreversible damage to ecosystems, habitats, air quality and water sources. The directive is likely to be passed in Spring 2024.
Welsh Government is yet to Establish an Environmental Watchdog
Since the UK’s departure from the European Union, UK nations have implemented various environmental governance bodies tasked with holding the public sector accountable. The Welsh government have so far failed to do so and are running out of time to meet their own commitments.
Boost Britain's Access to Nature
Ahead of COP28, the Environment Secretary announced a package aimed at helping more people gain access to our natural heritage. Measures include launching a search for a new National Park and increased funding to help more children get outdoors. Further, ￡15 million has been pledged to support our existing National Parks and landscapes.?As ever, at the heart of the package is a desire to tackle climate change, and in this pursuit many measures including a new plan to recover England's Temperate Rainforests have been included.?
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Statutory Instruments for Biodiversity Net Gain laid in Parliament
November 30th sees the next steps in introducing the mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain across England. This environmental policy elucidates the power given in the Environmental Act to create a system of Biodiversity Net Gain. This system hopes to significantly help the country meet the target to halt the decline of species abundance by 2030.?This is something to watch and further guidance and updates issued by DEFRA will be available from 30 November 2023.?
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Environmental Principles Duty comes into force
From 1 November 2023 a new Environmental Principles Duty came into force seeking to put the environment at the heart of governmental policy making. Under this duty, policy makers must consider the environmental impact of new policies following a framework of key principles. These principles include the polluter pays principle, the precautionary principle, and the rectification at source principle. This duty applies to new or revised policies, but does not apply to national security and spending decisions. The duty to consider environmental needs across government policy making is a valiant effort to maintain the landscape envisioned by the Environment Act 2021.
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UK Supports Moratorium on Deep Sea Mining to Protect Ocean and Marine Ecosystems
On 30 October the UK government announced its support for measures seeking to protect the world’s oceans, and improve the conservation of marine biodiversity. This means that the UK will not sponsor or support the issuing of any licences in regard to deep sea mining projects until sufficient evidence is available to assess the potential impact. This is particularly prevalent in the run up to, and the commencing of COP28 where this will be a point of negotiation.
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COP 28 Looming: What to Watch Out For…
COP 28 has started, running from November 30 - December 12 in Dubai. Here are a few things to watch out for:?
Renewable Energy
Canary Islands RE Investment?
The Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition announced that it has awarded €84.86 million (USD 93.2m) in subsidies to a selection of renewable energy, energy storage and green hydrogen projects planned for installation in the Canary Islands.
EU Internal Markets Announcement
The European Council and Parliament have reached a provisional political agreement on the directive aimed at establishing common rules for the internal markets in renewable and natural gases, as well as hydrogen. This milestone agreement marks a significant step towards the EU’s ambitious goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The primary objective of the directive is to facilitate the integration of renewable and low-carbon gases into the energy system, paving the way for a transition from natural gas to more sustainable alternatives. By doing so, it will contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and advancing the EU’s climate agenda.
领英推荐
UK Government Offshore Wind Price Increase
The government has increased the maximum price for offshore wind projects in its flagship renewables scheme to further cement the UK as a world leader in clean energy.?Following an extensive review of the latest evidence, including the impact of global events on supply chains, the government has raised the maximum price offshore wind and other renewables projects can receive in the next Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction to ensure it is performing effectively.
Targets for Energy Transition Industrial Investment
Under its Green Deal Industrial Plan, the EU has announced targets to increase its domestic production of technologies needed for the energy transition. The law introduces simpler and faster permitting procedures for the construction of new factories to manufacture “net-zero technologies” such as solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, wind turbines, and electrolysers for hydrogen production. It would also exclude Chinese bidders and products from public procurement rules and renewable energy auctions, according to changes included in the law by the European Parliament’s Industry Committee
ESG
UAE Climate Pan Downgrade
Climate Action Tracker (CAT) downgrades COP28 host UAE climate plans to ‘critically insufficient’: CAT, a consortium of climate analysts and thinktanks, which assesses whether countries’ plans are sufficient to limit global warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial level, has downgraded UAE’s plans to critically insufficient, during COP28.
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COP28 President Announcement
?COP28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, has claimed there is ‘no science’ indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to restrict global warming to 1.5C, and that a phase-out of fossil fuels would not allow sustainable development and will take the world back into caves.
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Financial Institutions Announcement
HSBC, Standard Chartered, ABN AMRO and other major banks exit Science-Based Targets initiative for validation of their climate targets: the bank’s decisions were based on concerns that the SBTi would hinder their ability to finance fossil fuel business.
Nuclear
Finland
Forty years ago, on 10th November 1983, the Finnish Government approved the concept to dispose of spent nuclear fuel in the country’s bedrock. This Decision-in-Principle (DIP) also outlined the roadmap for the selection of the site for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel which has been followed ever since. Posiva Oy is now constructing the deep geological disposal facility near Olkiluoto, Eurajoki on the west coast.
For more details on this anniversary and the Finnish programme, click here.?
UK
Work has started to cap the original trenches and vaults which were used for the disposal of low level radioactive waste at the repository near to the village of Drigg in Cumbria. The site has been in use since 1959 and these historic facilities used the landfill principle of disposing of the waste. This practice has long since given way to disposal of the waste in engineered concrete trenches. The capping project will take some five years and see a replacement membrane put in place to protect the waste for up to 100 years. For further information click here.
Magnox Ltd and Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd have combined to form Nuclear Restoration Services. This brings together the organisations responsible for the decommissioning of the Dounreay nuclear site in Scotland and the Magnox reactors in Scotland, England and Wales. This will help the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority prepare for taking on EDF’s AGR fleet as it retires.
For further information click here.
Japan
Japan has provided the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with an update report on its seawater monitoring results from the discharges of contaminated waster into the ocean. The latest results confirm yet again that the radiation levels in the water are substantially below the targets set by the TEPCO.
For more information on Waste Management, read John's article. ?
Contributors
George M. (Environmental Law)
Aisha Collins (Environmental Law)
Jeremy Page (Renewable Energy)