Report to the 2020 Upton Parish Annual Meeting
on
The Harwell Site Stakeholders’ Meetings.
I have continued to attend the Harwell Site Stakeholders’ Meetings on the behalf of Upton Parish Council. The purpose of the Stakeholders Group is to provide a forum between the nuclear activities on the site and interested local organisations. Three meetings a year, chaired by an elected local councillor, are held where the Site Closure Director, the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency (NDA), the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency (EA) present reports. We also hear from other organisations such as the Rutherford Lab and Diamond from time to time.
Work is continuing to decommission the nuclear facilities and to treat radioactive wastes. The decommissioning of the old liquid waste treatment plant is proceeding well, with the aim to restore this area to Green Field conditions. Waste material has been recovered from the old stores and repackaged for long term storage. A considerable amount of soil has been removed and assessed to ensure that it is free from contamination. None of the nuclear activities have had any impact on the Upton Parish.
Attention is drawn the Magnox Socio-Economic plan which provides small grants to encourage education, the development of employment and other similar investments in the local area. Upton has received a grant in previous years to contribute to the cost of staging in Upton Hall. At the time of writing some funding is still available.
I am happy to continue to represent Upton Parish Council if the members so wish and I will continue to report on any issues that might affect the parish. Please contact if you want any further details of activities on the Harwell Licensed site.
Derek Whitmell