STORA (English)

STORA, Your Eyes And Ears.*

'STORA’ is an association, composed of organisations and residents of the Belgian municipality of Dessel, which monitors all nuclear affairs in the municipality. Several nuclear companies have their head offices in Dessel, and something else of importance, Belgian radioactive waste is being processed and temporarily stored there.

STORA is responsible for all nuclear affairs in Dessel, and moreover for the various kinds of radioactive waste that are being transported, processed, stored and which possibly in the future will be disposed of there.

The municipality of Dessel was a candidate for the disposal of low-level and short-lived waste, a project that has been developed by STORA's predecessor, ‘STOLA’. In June 2006 the federal government decided that the waste will be disposed of in a surface disposal in Dessel. Now a new phase will begin, in which a complete disposal project will be worked out and a binding agreement that states the rights and duties of all parties concerned. STORA will keep monitoring the project.
STORA offers the residents of Dessel an opportunity to learn about the intermediate- and high-level waste that is present in the municipality.
STORA keeps the residents of Dessel informed about all the nuclear affairs that are conducted within the municipality.

One of STORA's major objectives is to involve the population of Dessel in these nuclear questions. Residents of Dessel have an interest in being informed about the nuclear activities taking place within their municipality.

On this website, you can read more about STORA's composition and objectives. Before STORA (°2005), there was the ‘STOLA’ association in Dessel (1999-2005). STOLA had to investigate whether if it would be technically possible and acceptable for the residents of Dessel for Belgian low-level waste to be stored in the municipality. More information about this background and about the municipality of Dessel and its nuclear history can be found here.

* ‘STORA, Your Eyes And Ears’, is the slogan that was specially invented for STORA by a resident of Dessel. During a local musical event (in August 2005) a contest was organised to come up with an original slogan for STORA. Out of 1800 possible slogans ‘STORA, Your Eyes And Ears’ was chosen.

STORA is short for ‘Study and Consultation Radioactive Waste Dessel’ and is a non-profit organisation.