How we developed the Radioactive Waste Adviser scheme

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the Environment Agency (EA) and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) have reviewed the arrangements in place to satisfy the Basic Safety Standards Directive requirements for 'Qualified Experts' for several years.

This review, which involved extensive stakeholder engagement, culminated in the publication of a consultation document in October 2010 Qualified Experts for Radioactive Waste Management: A consultation by the UK environment agencies.

The consultation closed in January 2011, we analysed the responses and presented our findings together with draft guidance and an updated syllabus at a post-consultation workshop held in Leeds in March 2011. The papers discussed at the workshop were:

We used the feedback from the workshop to further develop our guidance and to inform the Consultation Response Document that we published in April 2011. The cost assessment was also finalised following the workshop and published in May 2011.

We published the Environment Agencies’ Statement on Radioactive Waste Advisers and associated guidance on 24 May 2011.