1. Date
RADIOACTIVE WASTE
MANGEMENT POLICIES,
STRATEGIES AND WASTE
PLANS
Alan Carolissen
Senior Manager: Nuclear Liabilities Management

2. What is POLICY ? What is STRATEGY ?
• POLICY
“established goals or requirements for
the safe management of spent fuel and
radioactive waste”
• STRATEGY
“means and processes for achieving the goals and
requirements set out in the national policies for the safe
management of spent fuel and radioactive waste”
2

3. • POLICY
WHAT ?
• STRATEGY
HOW ?
3
What is POLICY ? What is STRATEGY ?

4. FORMULATING NATIONAL POLICIES (1/5)
• POLICIES ADDRESS OBJECTIVES
 IAEA Safety Fundamentals (SS-111-F)
 Protection of human health
 Protection of the environment
 Protection beyond national borders
 Protection of and burden on future generations
 National legal framework
 Minimization of radioactive waste generation
 Radioactive waste management
interdependencies
 Safety of facilities
4

5. FORMULATING NATIONAL POLICIES (2/5)
5
• ADDRESS PRINCIPLES & OBJECTIVES
 “The polluter pays” principle
 Sustainability
e.g end-points for long-term RW management,
infrastructure, etc.
 Openness and transparency
e.g. public information,
stakeholders’ involvement

6. FORMULATING NATIONAL POLICIES (3/5)
• COMPLIANCE WITH
• National Legislation
• Regulations
• International conventions, treaties, agreements
• Other requirements, e.g. import / export of RW
• COHERENCE WITH
• Other national policies,
e.g. on energy production and development
6

7. FORMULATING NATIONAL POLICIES (4/5)
• Established by National Authorities
• May be adopted through public debates, e.g. public hearings
• Formulated through
• national legislation
• or
• policy statement
7

8. FORMULATING NATIONAL POLICIES (5/5)
• In general, national policies prescribe
• Roles and responsibilities
• Organization and governance
• Provisions for public and environment protection, safety, security, non
proliferation
• Funding mechanisms, financial arrangements
• Liabilities
• Road map
• Decision-making process
8

9. 9 9
INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS
(TREATIES, AGREEMENTS,
CONVENTIONS)
NATIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES
(ENERGY POLICY, RESOURCES, RW
INVENTORY)
NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
NATIONAL RWM
INFRASTRUCTURE
FUNDING SYSTEM
GOVERNMENT
PARLIAMENT
FORMULATE POLICY
STATEMENT
IMPLEMENT POLICY
MINISTRIES
REGULATORS
RWM AGENCY and
GENERATORS
ELABORATE
STRATEGY
IMPLEMENT
STRATEGY
TECH. INFRASTRUCTURE,
RESOURCES, TIME CONSTRAINTS
TECHNICAL OPTIONS
1-6 y
2-8 y
2-8 y
15-50 y
INTER-RELATIONSHIP POLICY / STRATEGY

10. Date
WASTE MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIES

11. DEVELOPING RWM STRATEGIES (1/5)
• ASSESSING THE CURRENT SITUATION
 Identify all RW waste types, sources and streams
 Establish RW inventories based on waste
classification / categorization
 Identify available methods, facilities and
resources (human, technical, financial)
 Identify issues, gaps and weaknesses of the existing RWM
system
11

12. • RADIOACTIVE WASTE TYPES to be considered
12
DEVELOPING RWM STRATEGIES (2/5)

13. DEVELOPING RWM STRATEGIES (3/5)
DEFINING LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT END-POINTS FOR RW
 Estimate future waste arising
 Select preferred disposal solution for each
waste class
 Assess needs for research and
development
 Assess needs for institutional framework
13

14. SAFETY PRINCIPLES AND
REQUIREMENTS
HLW ILW LLW VLLW VSLW
WASTE TYPES AND DISPOSAL OPTIONS
REGULATORY ASPECTS
TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS
ECONOMICS
SOCIETAL ISSUES
MANAGEMENT OPTIONS – TREATMENT & DISPOSAL

15. SELECTING RWM STRATEGIES
 Consider all RWM steps from “cradle to grave”
 Evaluate and compare possible technical options for RW
pre-disposal and disposal,
e.g. short-term vs long-term storage
or national vs regional disposal
 Assess feasibility of each possible strategy in terms of
resources needed (human, technical, financial)
 Assess time scales and consider staged approaches to
implementation
15
IMPLEMENTING RWM STRATEGIES (4/5)

16. IMPLEMENTING RWM STRATEGIES (5/5)
Some prerequisites for successful implementation of RWM
strategies
 Adequate institutional framework including regulatory
infrastructure in place
 Clear allocation of responsibilities and appropriate
organization established
 Funding mechanism defined
 Strategies commensurate with the country’s technical
capabilities and financial resources
 Open and transparent decision-making process, in particular
for disposal
 Long-term plans for energy development considered
16

17. 17
Management Options For Spent Fuel
• Long Term Storage
• Reprocessing and recycling
• Disposal
• Fuel leasing/Fuel Take Back
• Retention of spent fuel as a valuable commodity

18. 18
Strategies For Spent Fuel
• Long term storage Disposal
• Long Term storage R&R Disposal
• Reprocessing & recycling - Disposal
• Direct Disposal
• Fuel leasing /Tack Back
• Retention of spent fuel as a valuable commodity

19. Date
WASTE MANAGEMENT PLANS

20. Framework for development of Waste Management Plans
• Identification all site specific waste streams
• Identification of end points for each waste stream
• Identification of waste processing options for each
waste stream as well as steps for each option
• Evaluation and selection of options in a balanced
and systematic way – multi-attribute analysis
approach
• Stakeholder involvement and acceptance of plan

21. Principles
• Aimed at optimization of processes from generation to disposal
(Cradle to Grave)
• Hierarchy for selection of WM options
– Waste prevention and minimization
– Clearance
– Re-use, reprocessing and recycling
– Conditioning and storage
– Disposal
• Continual improvement
• Final disposal ultimate step - storage interim step
• Maximum degree of safety – storage and disposal

22. Identification of End Points

23. U Recoverable
Recycle & Reused
Can the
waste be cleared?
Very Low
Level Waste
Intermediate
Level Waste
Low
Level Waste
High
Level Waste
Will the
waste meet safety
requirements for intrusion
in a low level
facility?
Will the
waste meet safety
requirements for intrusion
in a landfill
facility?
Will the
waste meet safety
requirements for public
in a landfill
facility?
Will the
waste meet safety
requirements for public
in a low level
facility?
Will the
waste meet safety
requirements for public
in an intermediate
facility?
Conventional waste
disposal
Storage for
decay
Radioactive waste Cat
Is the waste
high volume NORM
waste?
Does the
Waste need storage
For decay?
Will the
waste meet safety
requirements for intrusion
in a landfill
facility?
Will the
waste meet safety
requirements for public
in a landfill
facility?
Will the
waste meet safety
requirements for intrusion
in a tailings
facility?
Very Low
Level NORM
Waste
Low
Level NORM
Waste
Intermediate
Level NORM
Waste
Will the
waste meet safety
requirements for public
in a tailings
facility?
Yes
Yes
Yes YesYesYes
YesYes Yes Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
NoNo No
NoNo
No
No
LANDFILL
DISPOSAL
NEAR SURFACE
LOW LEVEL
DISPOSAL
INTERMEDIATE
DISPOSAL
GEOLOGICAL
DISPOSAL

24. ID of
Waste
streams
Waste
management
options
Evaluation
of Waste
Management
Options
Costeffectiveness
Technology
Safety
Environmental
Selection
of Waste
Management
Options
BPEO
Development
of Waste
Management
Plan
PublicConsultation
Evaluation
and Approval
of plan by
National
Committee
Identification and selection of Predisposal Waste
Processing Options

25. Evaluation Criteria
– Cost effectiveness
• life cycle cost of waste
– Operational feasibility
• Existing or new technology
• International best practice
• Regulatory implications or difficulty
• Ease of operation
– Environmental and Social Acceptability
• Public safety impact
• Perceived risk and social acceptability
• Environmental impact
• Continual improvement potential.
– Safety
• Worker safety impact
• Public safety impact
• Accident risk
• Safety impact reduction potential

26. Waste Management Plan
U Compressible LLW
Compaction
Incineration
Shredding
Evaluation
of Waste
Management
Options
Costeffectiveness
Technology
Safety
Environmental
Selection
of Waste
Management
Options
BPEO
Compaction
Interim Storage
Disposal at Vaapluts
PublicConsultation
Evaluation
and Approval
of plan by
National
Committee

27. Thank you for your attention