Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire: IAEA Scientific Forum Highlights Responsibility for Radioactive Waste

Friday, September 26, 2014

IAEA Scientific Forum Highlights Responsibility for Radioactive Waste

Establish Comprehensive Disposal Plans, Says Amano

Showing a stainless steel capsule used for conditioning disused sealed radioactive sources, which would have been used in medical, food, construction and other industries, IAEA Director General Amano emphasizes that radioactive waste is an issue for all States. (Photo: A. Evrensel/IAEA)

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A two-day Scientific Forum during the IAEA's annual General Conference emphasized the need for a comprehensive, integrated, cradle-to-grave approach for management of radioactive waste.
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano closed the event on Wednesday, 24 September 2014, by highlighting that anyone using any form of nuclear technology should start with the end of the fuel cycle in mind. "All Member States should embrace, from the start, their responsibility for radioactive waste management," he said. "It is imperative that each country establish a comprehensive plan for waste disposal as soon as they begin to use nuclear technologies." He added that the issue of radioactive waste disposal was a very important one, and that the IAEA has a role to play in disseminating information and accelerating research.
At the closing high-level panel of this year's Forum, entitled Radioactive Waste: Meeting the Challenge - Science and Technology for Safe and Sustainable Solutions, Director General Amano was joined by Mr. David Huizenga, President of the 5th Review Meeting of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel, and Mr. Massimo Garribba, Director of the European Commission (EC) Directorate for Nuclear Safety and Fuel Cycle of the Directorate General for Energy.
Mr. Huizenga said that the Joint Convention was an essential tool for reaching a higher level of safety worldwide, but that responsibility for implementation rests with Member States. Mr. Garribba explained the close relation between the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel and Euratom's Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management Directive, and outlined the resulting obligations for the European Union (EU) Member States. Among these is the requirement of a decennial peer review of national waste management programmes, and the EC-IAEA cooperation to ensure that a viable peer review service will be available to assist EU Member States.
More than 300 participants attended the event at the IAEA Headquarters, and included in the audience were waste management experts, as well as diplomats and journalists. Overall, 29 speakers took part in the four sessions and three panels that followed a journey metaphor: Getting Started; Along the Journey; Destination; and the Path Ahead. Live webcasting allowed audiences across the world to pose questions to the speakers during the animated discussions. Ms. Melinda Crane, chief political correspondent at Deutsche Welle TV, moderated the event.
The Forum's second day focused on disposal solutions and concepts for all types of radioactive waste, as well as spent nuclear fuel. Disposal of high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel, although not yet licensed anywhere, is progressing successfully in several countries, the Forum heard. Finland and Sweden have submitted such licence applications and France is preparing its submission within two years, with a few other countries moving toward siting.
Why we can have confidence in long-term safety was also looked at with great attention, through a review of how safety of deep geological disposal are assessed, and how the use of underground research facilities and engineering demonstrators contribute to establishing a solid basis for developing such safe solutions.
The Forum also addressed some of the scientific and technological developments pertaining to deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.
The Path Ahead panel looked into how evolving nuclear technologies, such as better use of nuclear fuel, more effective waste forms and advanced reactors and fuel cycles, including thorium fuel cycle and fast reactors, could affect future waste management. While such developments indeed hold promise to reduce the volume and radiotoxicity of waste managed, they are not yet in place. Hence, the Forum was informed that implementing available safe waste management solutions should remain a priority.
The Forum also heard that that there was a fundamental political and societal component of establishing successful radioactive waste management solutions, as risk perceptions influence people's decisions.
All the presentations made at the Forum can be found here.

-- By Ayhan Evrensel, IAEA Department of Nuclear Energy

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