Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever has laid a foundation stone, marking the start of construction of a surface disposal facility for low- and intermediate-level, short-lived waste at the Dessel site in Belgium. The facility will consist of several concrete bunkers that will house large concrete vaults in which short-lived low- and intermediate-level waste will have been encapsulated with mortar. The Dessel facility will house all Belgian low- and intermediate-level, short-lived radioactive waste including that from nuclear power plants, hospitals, research institutes and the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. A rendering of the new facility (Image: ONDRAF/NIRAS)In 2006, the federal government approved the development of the surface storage project in Dessel. With this fantastic project, we are once again strengthening our pioneering role in the safe and collectively supported storage of nuclear waste."