Committee for Radioactive Waste Management

The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) is an independent committee appointed by the UK Government, whose task is to review the options for managing radioactive wastes for which there is "no agreed long-term solution".

It was set up in November 2003 after a public consultation called ""Managing Radioactive Waste Safely" had been launched by the Government in September 2001. The Committee is chaired by Gordon MacKerron, Director, Sussex Energy Group, SPRU, University of Sussex.

The Convoluted Nuclear Links of Some of its Members

Although CoRWM is independent - some of its panel have some interesting associations [1]:

• Fred Barker - Was a contractor to the DTI up to March 05, advising on potential stakeholder engagement arrangements for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
• Andrew Blowers- former Board Member of Nirex.
• Mark Dutton - Is the sole Director of Mark Dutton and Associates, a consultancy that provides services on nuclear industry issues, mainly to NNC Limited, various Government Departments, and international and national bodies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations.
• NNC Limited has been appointed as the Committee's Programme Manager through an open competition tendering process. In 2004 Dutton wrote to CoRWM's Chair to clarify his relationship with NNC and to ensure that any future involvement with the company "does not involve any conflict of interest."
• Lynda Warren - Emeritus Professor of Environmental Law at the University of Wales. Director, Integrated Decision Management International Limited; Associate, Integrated Decision Management Limited. IDM works for CoRWM. [2]
• Jenny Watson - is a senior Human Rights Adviser, Global Partners and Associates, and former Chair, Nirex Independent Transparency Review Panel. Andrew Puddephatt, the current Chair of Nirex UK's Independent Transparency Review panel,is Watson's partner.
• Pete Wilkinson - Director of Wilkinson Environmental Consulting Ltd (WECL). Associate Integrated Decision Management Limited, that works for CoRWM. [3]

Spinning Safe Waste

As from 1st August 2005, CoRWM retained the PR Company, Luther Pendragon, to advise on "communication issues arising from the third phase of the Committee's public and stakeholder engagement process". [4]

The Luther team working on the account includes two partners at the firm Mike Granatt and Ben Rich as well as Adam Lewis, Susie Winter and Aideen Lee. Mike Granatt is an ex-Government spin doctor. He used to be the Director General of the Government Information and Communication Service (GICS) for seven years and was responsible for the Government News Network, the regional press operation with offices across Great Britain. Before then he had been responsible for all news handling, marketing communication and internal communication for amongst others the Energy and Environment Departments, including working on nuclear power.[5]

PR Week said that Luther Pendragon had been appointed to "help it reassure people that nuclear waste is being dealt with." ^[6]

Grayling PR also lists CoRWM as a client in the PRCA Yearbook 2004

But the Waste is Not So Safe

In April 2006, A leading radiation expert yesterday attacked the unscientific approach being taken by a Government committee investigating the disposal of UK nuclear waste.

Keith Baverstock, a former World Health Organisation radiation expert, who was sacked from CoRWM in 2005 for describing it as amateurish, once again criticised the committee for its "distinctively non-scientific approach". who had done a "Mickey Mouse job".

He said enough radioactive material to fill the Albert Hall five times over was being stored "in very much less than ideal conditions" at power stations such as Sellafield and Dounreay. "If it were to be dispersed into the atmosphere, Chernobyl would look like a vicar's tea party", he said. ^[7]

So Stick It Down A Hole

In April 2006, CoRWM announced that deep geological disposal is the "best available approach" for the long term management of Britain’s 470,000 cubic metres of nuclear waste, despite the fact it was the same solution the Government has already rejected three times over the last 30 years.

Keith Baverstock, (see above) was unimpressed by its proposals. “With a gestation period longer than that of an elephant, it has delivered a mouse,” he said. “The public has been short-changed. The committee has not got as far as was originally intended.” ^[8]

Especially As Its A Terrorist Threat

The same week that CoRWM announced the review of its results, it was revealed that "security specialists" had warned it about the threat of a terrorist attack. The specialists told the committee that "it is our unanimous opinion that greater attention should be given to the current management of radioactive waste held in the UK, in the context of its vulnerability to potential terrorist attack"

"We are not aware of any UK Government programme that is addressing this issue with adequate detail or priority, and consider it unacceptable for some vulnerable waste forms such as spent fuel, to remain in their current condition and mode of storage." ^[9]

External Links

• ^ D. Bloch (2005) "Luther Pendragon Takes On Nuclear Waste Brief", PR Week, 12 August, p8.

• ^ Robin McKie, "Britain 'Making a Poor Job' of Nuclear Waste", The Observer, April 23, 2006.

• ^ Rob Edwards, Bury Your Nuclear Waste, UK Advised, New Scientist, April 27, 2006.

• ^ The Guardian, "Nuclear Waste 'Terror Target'", April 27, 2006.