Regulatory oversight of radioactive waste repositories in Hungary

Regulatory oversight of radioactive waste repositories in Hungary Zsuzsanna Hauszmann, István Lázár, Gábor Petőfi (Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority) Introduction On the basis of the modification of the Act on Atomic Energy, the licensing and inspection of siting, construction, operation, modification, closure and institutional control of radioactive waste repositories belongs to the competence of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority (HAEA), as the atomic energy oversight authority since July 1, 2014. Radioactive waste repositories Radioactive Waste Treatment and Disposal Facility of Püspökszilágy § Near surface facility in loess with engineered barriers in Püspökszilágy § Putting device: chambers, drilled wells § For non NPP radioactive waste; § Interim storage of long-lived waste; § Final disposal of institutional LILW-SL New legal regulation As far as a radioactive waste repository is concerned, the Act on Atomic Energy allocates regulatory tasks to several ministries. The nuclear safety regulation of radioactive waste disposal facility belongs under the regulatory competence of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority. As a result of the preparatory work accomplished by the ad-hoc Radioactive Waste Working Group that had been specially formed for this purpose and led by the HAEA, the new Governmental Decree 155/2014. (VI. 30. ) Korm. on the safety requirements of interim storage and final disposal facilities of radioactive waste and the related regulatory activities was put into force on the 30 th of June, 2014. After taking over the regulatory oversight, the HAEA started the licensing and inspection activities and the development of guidelines. The Decree has 2 annexes (Safety Codes): Annex 1 on Management systems of storage and disposal facilities and Annex 2 on Design, construction, operation of the storage and disposal facility, closure and institutional control of the disposal facility. In order to facilitate the compliance with the Decree, the HAEA has already issued 6 guidelines: on inspection, regular reports, event reports, periodic safety review, management system, safety culture. Activities related to the radioactive waste disposal and storage facilities make it necessary to issue further Safety Codes. There are 2 additional annexes being developed. Annex 3 will summarize the design requirements for radioactive waste disposal and storage facilities and Annex 4 will specify requirements for site survey and assessment of radioactive waste disposal and storage facilities. The HAEA has undertaken the elaboration of further safety guides with the support of an external TSO. Act CXVI of 1996 on Atomic Energy Govt. Decree 155/2014 Safety Codes for Disposal facilities 1 2 Safety Guidelines Other regulations Local Regulations The Nuclear Safety Regulations in Hungary for Disposal Facilities The implementation of the modifications was justified by the safety improvement programme in RWTDF for example aimed at gaining more free capacity for the disposal of waste, power enhancement of the ventilation system. In case of NRWR facility, it becomes necessary to modify the operating license, which requires the introduction of new waste packages. The introduction of new waste packages entails more modifications, for example crane and trolley modifications for moving of new waste packages, vehicle modification for transporting of the new waste packages within the facility. Inspection Bátaapáti National Radioactive Waste Repository § LILW waste from NPP origin (operation & decommissioning); § The host rock is granite, depth is 250 m; § Buffer storage capacity: 3000 drums (200 l). Licensing Since the design, construction and the operation of the radioactive waste repositories had been licensed under the former legislation, the licensee of these facilities was required to submit a report to the HAEA on the compliance with the new Decree. The licensee, the Public Limited Company for Radioactive Waste Management (PURAM), had to demonstrate in the report that which of the new requirements are relevant for it and which of them are not met fully or totally. The authority reviewed the documents and granted the permission for a fixed period to the licensee to meet these requirements. The most important licensing procedure was related to the operation of the RWTDF. This license is required for the safe processing and conditioning of the institutional (non-NPP origin) low- and intermediate radioactive waste generated in Hungary. The license also containing the provisions from special authorities was issued by the HAEA at the end of 2015, allowing the PURAM to manage and process the received radioactive waste. Another important licensing procedure started at the end of June, 2016, when the licensee filed an application for the unified operating license to the authority. The reason is that currently, the licensee has separate permissions to processing, storage and final disposal, which it wants to unify. Since the taking over of the oversight, for both facilities the HAEA has issued more modification licenses. The authority prepares an annual inspection plan, which is evaluated at the end of the year. The inspections are announced in advance and there are unannounced inspections as well. In November 2015, in accordance with the new legislative requirements, the HAEA performed a comprehensive inspection in the RWTDF, which covered the following areas: ageing management, waste management procedures, management of suppliers, transport of the waste, emergency preparedness, maintenance, safety management (organizational and administrative factors). The HAEA prepared an evaluation report of the comprehensive inspection. On the basis of the comprehensive inspection performed in the mentioned topics, the HAEA has not found any reason to require prompt measures, however several areas for potential improvements were identified (emergency preparedness plan, training plan, waste supplier qualification). At the end of this year, the authority is going to conduct a comprehensive inspection in the NRWR which is currently in the preparatory phase. In addition to the topics mentioned at the other facilities the experience with development of licensing documentation and the status for preparation for low level waste disposal will also be examined. Of course, from 1 July 2014, the authority carries out case inspections at the facilities. An. important part of the inspection is the controls of waste transport to the facilities. The HAEA assess the safety performance of the facilities on an annual basis. The assessment is fed from the regulatory experience during licensing and inspection, the annual selfassessment report of the facilities and the safety performance indicator system. The HAEA has started the establishment of the Safety Performance Indicator System to be applied for the two facilities. The data in the system are arranged in 3 groups indicating how the facility operates smoothly, with low risk, with a positive safety attitude. Each facility has already 19 indicators with different thresholds of compliance. The development of the system is still ongoing, both parties are collecting experience with its use.