Photograph: Access tunnel in higher strength rock © Steve Barlow
Providing expert consultancy services for industry and stakeholders in the field of geological disposal
barlow geosafety
Steve Barlow (Executive Director) has almost 40 year's experience as a professional Engineer within the nuclear sector. For the past 15 years he has led the team within Radioactive Waste Management Ltd developing safety and environmental cases in support of plans for geological disposal of higher-activity radioactive waste.
Steve has established Barlow Geosafety Ltd to provide a platform for provision of consultancy services to industry and to stakeholders who may be currently involved, or who may be contemplating getting involved, in geological disposal discussions.
“Safety Case - A collection of arguments and evidence in support of the safety of a facility or activity. This will normally include the findings of a safety assessment and a statement of confidence in these findings. For a disposal facility, the safety case may relate to a given stage of development. In such cases, the safety case should acknowledge the existence of any unresolved issues and should provide guidance for work to resolve these issues in future development stages”
Experience
I am a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, with almost forty years experience within the nuclear sector. My early career was spent working on commissioning and operating nuclear power plants of the Magnox and Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor designs, however for the past thirty years I have worked in the field of radioactive waste management for Radioactive Waste Management Ltd and its predecessor organisations. My experience covers the whole spectrum of waste management activities from waste conditioning and packaging, transport in accordance with international standards and national legislation, disposal facility design and safety and environmental impacts covering construction, operations and the long-term into the post-closure phase.
For 15 years since 2003 I led the team responsible for the development of safety and environmental cases for geological disposal and our work has been subject to peer review and scrutiny by independent regulators. The safety and environmental cases have been published by government to facilitate understanding of issues surrounding geological disposal and to explain why there is confidence that the case for geological disposal can be made given a site with suitable characteristics. The most recent version of the safety case suite of documents is available on the GOV.UK website.
In this role I have contributed to peer review of others'safety cases and production of best practice guidance for use by the international waste management community.