The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) will need new stores to provide interim storage for future arisings of Higher Activity Waste (HAW). There are costs associated with planning, design, build, commissioning, operations and decommissioning of stores. The NDA recently contracted Eden NE to support with identifying opportunities for further improving the delivery of stores and ensuring maximum value is being provided for the NDA and the taxpayer.

Our team's extensive experience with storage strategy and store operation, plus our contacts nationally and internationally, made us best placed to lead the project. We spoke to store designers, operators and maintenance teams across the UK to gain first-hand experience from over 15 operational stores. We gained perspectives from regulators and Nuclear Waste Services. We gained international experience via a partner organisation in France. Another partner brought extensive sustainability experience from outside the nuclear industry, and we determined how that could be utilised to make stores more sustainable - from an environmental and from a socio-economic perspective.

As well as gaining learning from experience, we reviewed new technologies that may enhance future stores. Our strong links to universities and research establishments gave us an insight into developing technologies.

Based on our research, 31 opportunities for improving the value of future stores were initially identified. These opportunities were discussed with a group of industry experts at a workshop we facilitated. Following the workshop, we identified the next steps for each of the 15 most attractive opportunities, along with the risks and uncertainties, the significance of the benefit and the ease of implementation. We concisely and visually presented this information to the NDA, to help them make decisions on prioritising their future work, to enable maximum value for money to the taxpayer.