National Policy and Strategies
for Radioactive Waste Management
David Bennett (David [email protected])
14 – 18 December 2014
JAEC, Amman, Jordan
IAEA
International Atomic Energy Agency
Contents
• National policy and strategy
• Strategies for waste management
• Examples
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Background
Every country should have some form of policy and strategy for
managing its spent fuel and radioactive waste
• Required/recommended in some IAEA publications and in the Joint
Convention, but the contents of a national policy and strategy are not
elaborated in these documents
• In some Member States national policy and strategy are well established,
in others they exist but without explicit statement; in many developing
states they do not exist
=> A need to help in developing or upgrading national policies and strategies
in a number of states
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What is Policy and What is Strategy?
Policy is about goals, aims and objectives – e.g. what
Government wants to do
•
In its simplest form a radioactive waste management policy
states that radioactive waste shall be managed in a safe
way
Strategy is about how to achieve policy goals, aims
and objectives
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IAEA Safety Requirements
“Decommissioning of facilities
and the safe management and
disposal of radioactive waste
shall constitute essential
elements of the governmental
policy and the corresponding
strategy over the lifetime of
facilities and the duration of
activities”
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IAEA Safety Requirements
Requirement 2: National policy and
strategy on radioactive waste
management
• To ensure the effective management and
control of radioactive waste, the government
shall ensure that a national policy and a
strategy for radioactive waste management
are established
• The policy and strategy shall be appropriate
for the nature and the amount of the
radioactive waste in the State, shall indicate
the regulatory control required and shall
consider relevant societal factors
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IAEA Document NW-G-1.1
“Policies and strategies for
spent fuel and radioactive
waste management”
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NW-G-1.1 Objectives
• To set out the main elements of national
radioactive waste management policy and
strategy
• To advise on procedures for development
and implementation
• To advise on policy–strategy links
• To serve as an aid, resource and reference
for those engaged in its development or
updating of policy and strategy
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Policy and Strategy
• Policy
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Determined by government
Often codified in the national legislative system
Provides principles, infrastructures
Provides formal requirements for implementation and for the
development of appropriate strategies
• Strategy
• Normally established by the relevant waste owner or facility
operator
• National policy may be elaborated in several different strategies
• The individual strategies may address different types of waste (e.g.
reactor waste, decommissioning waste, institutional waste, etc.) or
waste belonging to different owners.
• The line separating policy from strategy is not always sharp
=> sometimes mixtures exist
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Policy – Strategy Links
GOVERNMENT
PARLIAMENT
FORMULATE POLICY
STATEMENT
INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS
(TREATIES, AGREEMENTS,
CONVENTIONS)
NATIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES (ENERGY
POLICY, RESOURCES, RW INVENTORY)
NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
MINISTRIES
REGULATORS
IMPLEMENT POLICY
NATIONAL RWM INFRASTRUCTURE
FUNDING SYSTEM
RWM AGENCY and
GENERATORS
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ELABORATE STRATEGY
TECH. INFRASTRUCTURE, RESOURCES,
TIME CONSTRAINTS
IMPLEMENT STRATEGY
TECHNICAL OPTIONS
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Why do we need a Policy?
• To define what is to be done (e.g. nuclear power production, waste
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storage, reprocessing, waste disposal)
To allow and enhance public discussion and confidence in RWM
As a basis for the preparation of related legislation
To define roles and responsibilities in radioactive waste management
(RWM)
To provide for safety and security
To ensure the adequate allocation of financial and human resources
As a starting point for the development of strategies
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National Policy
• ‘What state wants to do to ensure safe management of
waste’
• Reflects national priorities, circumstances, structures,
human and financial resources
• Policy > Strategy +/- Legislation
• Should be updated from time to time
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National Policy
• Should be compatible with:
• Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel and
Radioactive Waste Management
• IAEA safety documents
• EC Directives and other International Agreements (where
applicable)
• Should be based on knowledge of:
• Existing wastes
• Likely future waste generation
• Should provide for independent regulatory oversight
and public/stakeholder involvement
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Information for Policy Development
Knowledge of:
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Legal framework
Institutional structures
Applicable international conventions and agreements
Other related and existing national policies and strategies
Spent fuel and radioactive waste inventory
Availability of resources
Situation in other countries
Stakeholder involvement
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Example Policy Elements
• Description of national priorities, circumstances, relevant
organisational structures and infrastructure, human and financial
resources
• Policy on nuclear power and NPP development / decommissioning
• Policy on NPP fuel management
• e.g. direct disposal or reprocessing
• Policy on import and export of radioactive materials and wastes
• Policy on management of radioactive wastes
• waste classification
• options for disposing different types of wastes
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Example Policy Elements (cont.)
• Allocation of responsibilities to organisations
• e.g. operators, regulators
• Principles:
• e.g: the polluter pays principle, waste minimization, public participation
• Safety and security objectives
• Arrangements for the provision of financial resources
• e.g., segregated funds
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Implementation of a National Policy
• Establish an adequate and appropriate institutional
framework (operators, regulators etc.)
• Create a funding mechanism to provide adequate financial
resources for the whole RWM lifecycle (to finance the
necessary facilities, equipment and staff for RWM)
• Ensure that the staff involved are sufficient, trained and
competent
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Why do we need a Strategy?
• To specify how the national policy will be implemented by the
responsible organizations using the available technical measures and
financial resources
• To define how the identified goals and requirements will be achieved
and when
• To identify the competencies needed for achieving the goals and how
they will be provided
• To elaborate how to manage the various waste types
• To involve the public and build their confidence in the approach to safe
and secure management of radioactive wastes
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Information for Strategy Development
• Knowledge of:
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National policy on nuclear energy and waste management
Inventory of spent fuel and radioactive wastes
Waste stream characterization
Waste classification system
Existing waste management facilities
Future plans – new NPPs, mineral processing, etc
Stakeholder expectations and interests
Existing regulatory regime
Availability of resources
Waste management strategies in other countries
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Considerations in Strategy Development
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Compliance with policy
Inventory of waste types
Graded approach
Resources (financial, human, technical)
Technical options (shared, centralised, mobile facilities)
Country specifics (population, climate, neighbours)
Public sensitivity
Uncertainties
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Strategy Formulation/Implementation
Assign responsibility for strategy
development
Assess adequacy of available
information
Define possible endpoints
Identify possible technical options
Determine optimal strategy
Assign responsibilities for
implementation
Inadequate
inputs
Establish supervisory mechanism for
implementation
Develop strategy implementation
plan
Implement strategy
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Strategies for Waste Management
It is simple to describe...
• Assess the present situation
• Consider waste management from generation to
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disposal
Identify problems / needs for development
Identify and select options
Devise a plan
Secure funding
Execute the plan
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Strategies for Waste Management
But in practice…
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Need funding
Political system involved
Public trust needed on key components
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Strategies for Waste Management
Prerequisites:
• Operational capability to deal
with waste
• Operators and facilities
• Independent regulatory
capability
• Legal framework and regulatory
body
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Strategies for Waste Management
System of waste management:
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Sum of required individual components
May involve many organisations
Effective use of resources to get the best result
Different from country to country
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Strategies for Waste Management
Establishing a waste management system requires:
• Identification of the parties involved in the different steps
• Control / minimisation of radioactive waste generation
• Identification of existing and anticipated radioactive
wastes
• A rational set of safety, radiological and environmental
protection objectives
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Strategies for Waste Management
Establishing a waste management system requires:
• Identification of available methods and facilities
• Consideration of interdependencies among all steps of
waste generation and management
• Appropriate research and development
• Funding and the allocation of resources for radioactive
waste management
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Strategies for Waste Management:
Important components
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Independent regulatory oversight
Licensing/registration process
Waste inventory
Management system
Safety culture
Safety cases and assessments
Defined planning and decisionmaking processes
• Research and development
• Documentation and records
• Staff training and qualification
• Emergency planning
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• Institutional control
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Strategies for Waste Management
Example disposal strategies
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Spent fuel wastes and HLW - geological disposal
DSRS - decay or geological disposal or borehole?
LILW (long-lived) - geological disposal
LILW (short-lived) - engineered shallow disposal
VLLW - landfill?
Mining and milling wastes – surface management?
• [human intrusion, long-term radon doses]
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Strategies for Waste Management
Disposal strategies - realities
• What to do with historical wastes?
• What to do with small amounts of wastes?
• What to do when disposal is not yet possible
• Storage facilities
• What to do when there are not enough resources?
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Waste Management Strategy –
Generic Example
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Decommissioning of Small
Medical, Industrial and
Research Facilities, IAEA
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TECDOC-1041, 1998
Updating Policy and Strategy
• Experienced obtained
• New national circumstances
• New international agreements
• Policy updating (government)
• Strategy updating (operator)
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National Policy/Strategy Example: Finland
Finland:
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4 reactors (1 under construction)
1 research reactor
Industrial and medical and research use of radiation
~1,400 tonnes U as spent fuel
~6,500 m³ L/ILW
<100 m³ ‘small users’ wastes
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National Policy/Strategy Example: Finland
Government Policy of 1983
Operational wastes:
• Plans for construction of LILW disposal facilities by the end 1986 and - if
needed - commissioning by 1992
Decommissioning:
• Updated plans for decommissioning of NPPs at 5 year intervals
Spent fuel disposal, milestones:
• Site screening and selection of several sites by the end of 1985
• Prelim. site investigations and selection of most suitable sites 1992
• Detailed site investigation and site selection by the end of 2000
• Application for construction of the encapsulation and disposal facility by the
end of 2010
• Planning for operation of the facilities around ~2020
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National Policy/Strategy Example: Finland
Nuclear Waste
(Subject to Nuclear Energy Act)
Spent Nuclear
Fuel
Deep
Repository
Low and Medium
Level Waste
Rock Caverns at
Intermediate Depth
Discharges
from NPPs
Sea Water
Atmosphere
Other Radioactive Waste
(Subject to Radiation Act)
Conditioned
Solid Waste
Central
Storage
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Liquid
Waste
Solid
Waste
Airborne
Discharges
Sewage
Systems
Landfill
Sites
Atmosphere
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Example Strategy of a Waste Producer
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Example policy of a small-scale waste
producer (1 of 4)
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Example policy of a small-scale waste
producer (2 of 4)
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Example policy of a small-scale waste
producer (3 of 4)
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Example policy of a small-scale waste
producer (4 of 4)
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IAEA
Thank you!
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