Considerable research has been expended in the UK on potential repository sites:
- Sites considered by NIREX (the former Nuclear Industry Radioactive Waste Executive) were those with already-existing nuclear facilities: Dounreay and Sellafield.
- Between 1989 and 1997, twenty-nine boreholes were drilled around Sellafield to depths of up to 1,920 m to record groundwater and other geological conditions.
- In 1997, planning permission for the NIREX Rock Characterisation Facility at Sellafield was rejected following a public inquiry.
- NIREX subsequently ceased active research into the Sellafield site.
- The UK Government established the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) in 2003, which recommended geological disposal with community voluntarism.
- The current UK GDF programme, managed by Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), is based on a voluntarist approach where communities are invited to host the facility. Several communities in England are currently engaged in the siting process.