Current policies on the management of radioactive materials are uncertain, ineffective and inconsistent according to the government's independent advisor on nuclear waste.

The radioactive waste management advisory committee said in its annual report that regulations on the disposal of radioactive waste had been overtaken by events and added that a review of policy was needed.

The report noted the last comprehensive government statement on the management of nuclear waste was made in July 1995.

"The 1995 policy statement has been overtaken by various events which leave current UK radioactive waste management policy - in respect of both solid wastes and discharges - uncertain. In particular, it is difficult for anyone outside government to be clear on which particular elements of [the regulations] continue to apply and which do not."

The committee also warned that the lack of clear policies "can lead to ineffective and inconsistent regulatory decisions, prejudice the ability of users of radioactive materials and owners of radioactive wastes to plan and undertake their work effectively and, as a consequence, risk wasteful use of resources".

"For a number of years, RWMAC has been pointing out that the principles behind the control of radioactive discharges are not sufficiently well defined to support consistent and effect regulation," adds the report.

The failure in 1997 to give the go-ahead to plans to store intermediate level radioactive waste underground near the Sellafield nuclear site meant arrangements have been "thrown into uncertainty". In addition, signing an agreement in July 1998 on the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic had "strongly influenced the need for a review of government policy".

The committee recognised that the government "has various initiatives in hand" to remedy the policy deficits but voiced concerns "at the generally slow pace with which such work has proceeded in the past few years".

It added that while the government issued the draft UK Strategy for Radioactive Discharges 2001-2020, it remains to be seen whether it will put radioactive discharge regulation on a clear and consistent footing.

Committee chairman, professor Charles Curtis, said there had been "a policy vacuum in recent years".

"UK policy on both the long-term management of solid radioactive waste and the control of radioactive discharges to the environment needs to be clarified," he added.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said there would be a wide-ranging debate on the future management of radioactive waste.

"Involving as many people as possible in the debate on how radioactive waste should be managed over the coming centuries will be key to getting the right decision for this and future generations. Support for future policy can only be achieved through public debate. And this is exactly what we are now doing - with a wide public and comprehensive consultation on the issue," a DEFRA spokesman told ePolitix.com.