Nuclear Waste meaning

In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Contamination and pollution Energy efficiency and buildings Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental information Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR)-UK government publishes Business Model documentation On 27 August 2025, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) released a suite of papers on its proposed Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR) Business Model and accompanying policy. The Lexis+ Energy team, working with Navraj Singh Ghaleigh, Senior Lecturer in Climate Law at the University of Edinburgh Law School, set out the context for the GGR Business Model; its relationship with the Power BECCS Business Model; the technologies the GGR framework intends to encompass; its legal footing and principal features; and how...

In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental disputes and proceedings Environmental permits and consents Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change DESNZ releases quarterly waste data reporting template for the UK ETS. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has issued a template for quarterly waste data submissions under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS). It is designed for waste operators to use when sending quarterly data reports to their regulator during the voluntary monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) period. See: LNB News 19/02/2026 50. AFME responds to European Commission consultation on climate resilience legislative framework. The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has provided...

In this issue: Key developments and materials Electricity and gas market regulation and licensing Networks and network connections Conventional power, waste to energy, biomass, and CHP projects Nuclear energy Air emissions, efficiency, and climate change International energy Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Key developments and materials Friends of the Earth has won a pivotal High Court judgment against the government, with the court ruling that the climate strategy advanced by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero is unlawful. The court determined that adopting the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan contravened the Climate Change Act 2008. See: LNB News 03/05/2024 70. Electricity and gas market regulation and licensing Ofgem has released its conclusions on the consultation regarding updates to the licence fee cost recovery principles (LFCRP) and issued the LFCRP for May 2024. After reviewing consultees’ submissions, Ofgem confirmed it...

Scope of this Practice Note This Practice Note sets out the main types of radioactive waste and examines disposal against the EU-defined waste hierarchy. It places contemporary management of radioactive waste within the historical development of the nuclear industry from a planning standpoint. Principal policy documents are reviewed to chart the evolution of government thinking over time. Geological disposal of Higher Activity Waste (HAW) under the Planning Act 2008 (PA 2008) is compared with alternative disposal routes under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990) and the Planning (Wales) Act 2015. Consultation duties, application processes and required consents are identified for both regimes. Notable planning appeals and judicial review cases are highlighted before looking at international approaches to radioactive waste. What is radioactive waste? In the UK, radioactive waste arises—and will arise—from past, current and future programmes for electricity generation from nuclear fission, the reprocessing of nuclear fuel, the development of nuclear weapons, the nuclear submarine fleet and wastes from radioactive materials used for civil...

Nuclear energy in the EU As at September 2023, 12 of the 27 EU Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Finland, France, Hungary, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden) operate nuclear power stations on their soil, while Germany shut its last reactors in April 2023. Nuclear power usage fell by 16.7% between 2021 and 2022, yet it still supplied over a fifth (21.8%) of the EU’s total electricity generation in 2022. Nuclear safety is treated as a priority at EU level, due to the potential for cross-border consequences should a nuclear accident occur. This Practice Note introduces the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (the Euratom Treaty), which provides the foundation for EU-wide nuclear rules and standards, and sets out principal EU legislation pertinent to the nuclear industry. It addresses rules on nuclear safeguards, installation safety and licensing, protection of human health and the environment from radiation, impact assessments for proposed nuclear installations, the management of radioactive waste, and the decommissioning of sites. Euratom Treaty The...

Before any nuclear power station proceeds to construction, its design is scrutinised to establish whether the social, economic, or other prospective gains genuinely outweigh the health hazards or any other detriments linked to exposure to ionising radiation. This formal appraisal is referred to as ‘regulatory justification’. Brexit impact—Euratom and the UK Nuclear Sector As at 31 January 2020 (exit day), the UK ceased to be an EU Member State. At exactly 11 pm (GMT) on 31 December 2020, the Brexit transition/implementation period drew to a close. From that point (termed ‘IP completion day’ in UK legislation), key transitional measures came to an end and significant changes began to take effect across the UK’s legal framework. Departure from the EU likewise meant leaving Euratom. On 24 December 2020, the UK government confirmed it had reached agreement on the EU‑UK Trade and Co‑operation Agreement (TCA), accompanied by a range of associated declarations and agreements, including a separate Nuclear Co‑operation Agreement (NCA) with the EU/Euratom. It also contains several placeholders and...