Disposable Waste Management

Management and disposal of all types of radioactive waste

Developing a globally harmonized approach for the management of radioactive waste

Rationale - Radioactive waste from all types of nuclear activities or applications needs to be managed safely. The Agency has a statutory obligation to establish standards for the protection of health and this includes safety standards applicable to radioactive waste management. The need exists to disseminate the Agency safety standards and to achieve a broad usage of the standards by organisations managing radioactive waste and regulatory authorities responsible for regulatory control of the associated facilities and activities. The second Review Meeting of Contracting Parties to the Joint Convention identified a number of issues that still needed to be addressed in safety standards, namely, the processing of legacy waste, the safety implications of longer storage of radioactive waste when repositories are not available or are built in a way that allows waste retrieval, the need for improved characterization and quality assurance of waste, the adoption of holistic national strategies for waste management and the assessment and demonstration of safety of waste management activities and facilities. Also challenges remain in providing convincing arguments and evidence that disposal facilities and particularly geological disposal facilities for long lived and high level waste will provide safety in the long term.

These problems include: establishing the standard of assurance to be expected in safety cases for licensing geological repositories; establishing a coherent policy for the disposal of all types of radioactive waste; reaching international agreement on the reliance to be placed on institutional control as a safety measure in the long term; and determining the safety implications of providing for retrievability from geological repositories and for the application of safeguards arrangements. The International Conference on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Disposal, held in Tokyo in October 2005 also drew attention to the importance of international programmes for inter-comparison of safety assessment methodologies (e.g., ISAM, ASAM).

Objective

To achieve a coordinated, consistent and harmonized approach to defining the safety of radioactive waste management and to the application of the safety standards through integrated safety appraisals and services, an integrated approach to the provision of technical assistance to Member States and sustainable education and training.

Major Tasks for 2008-2009

For further information please contact P. Metcalf

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Improving the safety of spent nuclear fuel management

 

Rationale - The International Conference on Management of Spent Fuel from Nuclear Power Reactors, held in Vienna in June 2006, provided a strong argument for the increased importance of spent fuel management. New international initiatives on spent fuel management have been proposed recently. They could help reducing proliferation and security risks. As a result, increasing amounts of spent fuel will be generated. At the moment, most of the spent fuel is being stored above ground and the storage periods are increasing because decisions on the management of spent fuel are pending. Extending existing licenses or issuing new licenses for the long term storage of spent fuel are an issue because the behaviour of spent fuel, the container and the storage facility are to be known for the expected storage period. It has also to be assured that spent fuel can be retrieved and transported safely after the respective storage period. Furthermore licensing of a conditioning facility for spent fuel is a particular issue if requirements on container and spent fuel transport for the long term safety of a disposal facility have to be met. All these issue need to be integrated in an “international nuclear safety regime”.

Analysing the existing situation with respect to safety Standards and their application and, as necessary, improving the existing framework regarding spent fuel management is the subject of this new project. This would complement the programme on radioactive waste management to reflect the scope of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. Regulating long term aspects of spent fuel management, in particular storage and disposal will be one of the main issues of this project.

Objective

To strengthen international harmonization of methods and procedures for the safe pre-disposal of radioactive waste by establishing and improving the relevant safety standards

Major Tasks for 2008-2009

For further information please contact P. Metcalf


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