Technical Meeting on
Legacy Trench-type Disposal Facilities
Hosted by the
Government of the United Kingdom
through
Sellafield Ltd
Organized within the framework of the
Network on Environmental Management and Remediation
(ENVIRONET)
in partnership with the
International Low Level Waste Disposal Network
(DISPONET)
Sellafield, United Kingdom
12–16 September 2016
Ref. No.: T2-TM-52996
Information Sheet
A. General Background
Radioactively contaminated sites continue to exist all over the world. They originate from past
activities that were never subject to regulatory control or, if regulated, were not in accordance with
prevailing international standards including those formulated by the International Atomic Energy
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Agency (IAEA). Contaminated sites may have also resulted from nuclear and/or radiological
accidents. These sites can lead to the exposure of the public to ionizing radiation resulting in negative
health effects.
The Network on Environmental Management and Remediation (ENVIRONET) was launched at the
53rd regular session of the IAEA General Conference in 2009 as one of a series of measures to
strengthen international cooperation in nuclear, radiation and transport safety and waste management.
Its objectives include improving the flow of knowledge and experience amongst those engaged in
environmental remediation, thus raising overall competence levels. The technical objectives of
ENVIRONET are to improve the implementation of environmental management and remediation
programmes, identifying and dealing with improper past operations and assuring the longer term
knowledge management in support of public and environmental protection and site monitoring.
So far, ENVIRONET has concentrated its efforts on the organization of events such as workshops,
training meetings and plenary sessions. It has been suggested by the Network’s Steering Committee —
following the success of the CIDER (‘Constraints to Implementing Decommissioning and
Environmental Remediation’) Project conducted in cooperation with the International
Decommissioning Network — that ENVIRONET activities should also include targeted projects that
could address specific problems presented by participating Member States in order to foster the
identification of useful solutions and produce guidance material that could be subsequently used by
different organizations worldwide.
One of the projects presented with high priority and which was unanimously supported by the
participants of the 2014 ENVIRONET plenary meeting was the one related to the remediation of
legacy trench-type disposal facilities. This proposal gave rise to the creation of the Legacy Trench
Sites Working Group (‘LeTrench Working Group’).
B. Scope of the Meeting
The meeting will address legacy trench-type, shallow burial sites with or without engineered
containment containing non-mining radioactive materials. These sites may pose immediate or future
unacceptable radiological risks to members of the public and/or the environment, and therefore require
the consideration and the evaluation of management options and of remedial actions.
C. Objectives
The overall aim of the meeting is to create a forum for:

Provision of support, advice and technical guidance; and

Dissemination and exchange of knowledge relevant to the management of legacy trench sites
in a timely, safe and cost-effective fashion.
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The specific objectives of the LeTrench Working Group are to:
1. Ascertain and document the worldwide extent of legacy trench sites and raise awareness of the
issues associated with managing these sites;
2. Facilitate the sharing and exchange of knowledge and experience among organizations with
existing environmental management and remediation programmes for legacy trench sites;
3. Coordinate support for organizations or Member States by making available the relevant skills
and knowledge, as well as providing examples of technology applications, management
approaches and expertise, related to environmental management and remediation of legacy
trench sites; and
4. Assure long term knowledge management in support of public and environmental protection
and site monitoring.
D. Topics
Lack of site specific information

Inventory and source term

Design and site layout

Specific location of emplaced material

Presence of chemical and other hazards

Adequate site characterization

Availability of monitoring data
Key science issues and technical aspects

Mathematical simulations and safety assessments

Assessment of hazards and risks

Management of uncertainties

Applicability and acceptability of a risk based approach

Timescale of assessment and long term factors such as climate change

Behaviour of specific radionuclides (e.g. actinides, tritium)

The extent of information needed before action can be decided upon

Many other issues which may be relevant for specific sites
Societal issues

Changes in land usage

Inconsistent or variable stakeholder opinion
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
Economic conditions which may affect community attitudes to the costs of remediation

Loss of records and societal memory of events
Management options and remedial action

Consideration to be given to retrieval of the material; including assessment of risk to workers

Criteria for acceptability of current state, including the applicable standards in the relevant
jurisdiction

Site characteristics and state at the end of the institutional control period and subsequent long
term management

Knowledge of the desired end state required to determine level of clean-up

Rationale for clean-up (e.g. to target a specific end state or minimize present or ongoing risk)

Optimization and cost–benefit analysis of available options

Selection of preferred management and remediation options

Development of long term life cycle management and remediation strategy
Constraints

Technical knowledge required for site assessment and remediation alternatives

Political willpower

Cost/staffing/resources

Interactions between various agencies (operator, regulator)

Licensing issues (disposal site or storage site)

How to deal with complexity, noting that some smaller/easier sites have been already assessed
or remediated (but often the more complex sites remain to be addressed)

In absence of a decided end state some sites may be remediated to an interim state (or a series
of states) which may be acceptable if any interim action does not inhibit implementation of a
later action

Current economic climate, which can make some projects more difficult to justify

Strength of the imperative for immediate or timely action
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E. Output (Activities and Products)
1. A survey or questionnaire, leading to an assessment of responses.
2. A summary compilation of case studies and lessons learned (commencing with the material
presented at this meeting) augmented by new material from the survey and other
contributions.
3. A signpost document highlighting existing technical guidance, particularly information
relevant to specific case studies.
4. A poster or flow diagram of strategies relevant to legacy site management.
5. Technical Meetings, including visits to relevant field sites, following the schedule suggested
below.
6. Provide information for the CONNECT (‘Connecting the Network of Networks for Enhanced
Communication and Training’) platform.
7. Dissemination of proven technologies.
8. Specific consultations in Member States.
9. Offer a broad and diversified range of training, demonstrations and other activities with a
regional or thematic focus providing hands-on, user-oriented experience.
10. Develop a ‘handbook’ of site assessment, management planning and remediation actions (this
may need to be separately resourced).
F. Structure
The Consultants’ Group (formed at the inaugural meeting) proposes to become the ongoing Steering
Committee of the LeTrench Working Group, working in consultation with and under the guidance of
the co-Scientific Secretaries of ENVIRONET and the International Low Level Waste Disposal
Network (DISPONET) and other IAEA staff. The Working Group as a whole would be established on
the basis of the results of an initial survey and will comprise those persons who are interested in the
topics covered by LeTrench and who have been nominated by their countries’ Permanent Missions to
the IAEA.
The Working Group’s members would form part of the larger ENVIRONET community and would be
encouraged to participate in ENVIRONET events. Specific LeTrench activities are expected to take
place at the regular plenary meetings of ENVIRONET.
The Steering Committee would be the nucleus of an Expert Group which would attend to specific
needs of Member States regarding legacy trench sites and provide advice as required. Therefore, a
country that is challenged with managing a legacy subsurface site could benefit from international
assistance in scoping the overall problem, identifying specific needs, having in place an overall
framework and establishing a preliminary strategy (including elements of project planning,
management and cost estimation, etc.) that will contribute to further project implementation.
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G. Mode of Operation
1. Develop a survey to distribute to Member States at the next ENVIRONET meeting, with the
goal being to describe sites, identify the contact person and their role, and, if possible, the
specific issues associated with each site. It is proposed that an intern will be involved in
designing the survey and collating results, as well as assembling information on legacy burial
sites in member states.
2. Participants will be made aware of the LeTrench Working Group initiative when invited to the
ENVIRONET 2016 annual forum in November. We would recommend a budget for targeted
separate invitations of potential LeTrench participants at ENVIRONET meetings if possible.
3. The survey will be distributed to participants at the November 2016 ENVIRONET meeting. It
is recommended that the LeTrench Steering Committee participate in this meeting. At the
meeting, the LeTrench Working Group will be presented and the survey explained. [It is noted
that ENVIRONET is proposing several working groups (on naturally occurring radioactive
material, end states, etc.) in addition to the LeTrench Working Group and the already existing
In-Situ Characterization Working Group].
4. Assess survey responses; identify needs and gaps, opportunities with the assistance of the
intern (by the end of 2016). These responses will help identify participants to be invited to the
Technical Meeting in September 2016.
5. The attendees at the Technical Meeting will be based on positive responses to the survey, plus
those identified as relevant by other means. The meeting could be held in any country,
possibly based around Sellafield and other sites in the UK in September 2016. It will include
consultants and representatives of Member States having legacy trenches, i.e. those for whom
the LeTrench Working Group is most relevant. At this time, the specific activities and
products mentioned in the previous section, particularly the most prospective case studies for
consultations will be identified, further developed and scheduled for subsequent years. The
Consultants’ Group is proposed to hold its annual meeting in conjunction with the
September 2016 meeting.
6. At the November 2016 ENVIRONET plenary meeting, a combined LeTrench meeting with
responders to the survey will be held (i.e. with the members of the LeTrench Working Group).
7. Calendar year 2017 — Commence consultations (‘peer review missions’), as requested by
Member States (comprising members of the Steering Committee, broader LeTrench Working
Group membership and/or additional experts as needed).
8. Consultants’ Group meeting in mid-2017, possibly in conjunction with a field visit to a
Member State.
9. The ENVIRONET plenary meeting in November 2017 will mark the end of Phase I of the
LeTrench Working Group, at which time the success of the group’s establishment will be
assessed and a decision will be made regarding the continuation of LeTrench activities.
Form A
IAEA-TM-52996
International Atomic Energy Agency
Participation Form
Technical Meeting on Legacy Trench-type Disposal Facilities
Sellafield, United Kingdom
12–16 September 2016
To be completed by the participant and sent to the competent official authority (e.g. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
or National Atomic Energy Authority) of his/her Member State of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) for subsequent transmission to the IAEA, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 100, 1400 Vienna,
Austria, either electronically by email to: [email protected] or by fax to: +43 1 26007 (no hard copies
needed).
Participants who are members of an invited organization can submit this form to their organization for
subsequent transmission to the IAEA.
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Form C
IAEA-TM-52996
International Atomic Energy Agency
Grant Application Form
Technical Meeting on Legacy Trench-type Disposal Facilities
Sellafield, United Kingdom
12–16 September 2016
To be sent to the competent official authority (Ministry of Foreign Affairs or National Atomic Energy Authority) for
transmission to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 100, 1400 Vienna,
Austria (Fax: +43 1 26007; [email protected]).
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