The IAEA Radioactive Waste Management Programme Eliana AMARAL

The IAEA Radioactive Waste Management Programme Eliana AMARAL Director, Radiation Transport and Waste Safety IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency

IAEA functions in Radiation Protection to establish standards of radiation safety to provide for the application of international standards to facilitate and service international conventions and other undertakings IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 2

Objective of the programme To achieve global harmonization in policies, criteria and standards governing waste safety and public and environmental protection, together with provision for their application including state of the art technologies and methods for demonstrating their adequacy Global Radioactive Waste Safety Regime IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 3

The Nuclear Safety Regime applied to Radioactive Waste Management The Joint Convention International Safety Standards National Policy and Strategy IAEA National Regulatory Control Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 4

Joint Convention 46 Contracting Parties in 2008 IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 5

The IAEA Safety Standards • The safety standards series comprises three levels of documents: • Safety Fundamentals • Safety Requirements • Safety Guides • Cf. Supporting documents • Safety Reports • Technical Reports • TECDOCs IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 6

Protection of present and future generations (SF-7) • People and the environment, present and future, must be protected against radiation risks • Control risk now and in the future and beyond national borders • Protect human health and ecosystems • Generations that produce the waste to apply safe, practicable and environmentally acceptable long term solutions • generation of radioactive waste kept to the minimum practicable level (recycling and reuse) IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 7

Waste global inventory: The Present Situation • Global radioactive waste inventory • LILW: 7 M m 3 • Spent Fuel: 200 000 MTHM • HLW: 800 000 m 3 • U residues: 2 B m 3 • Existing radwaste management facilities • Storage: 1000 s • LLW: m 100 U Mine tailings: m 100 • ILW: some • HLW: none IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 8

Different waste types different problems • Low level waste disposal – Industrial practice but not everywhere • Decommissioning – Industrial practice but waste disposal necessary • Storage of spent fuel – Industrial practice • Reprocessing – Industrial practice but national policies differs • Disposal of HLW or spent fuel – Geological disposal accepted by experts but not implemented yet • Funding important – operational cost IAEA El Cabril Yankee Rowe NPP Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 9

Toward harmonized strategies • • Long term safety criteria Classification Inventory report Disposal approach of different waste types WASTE TYPES SAFETY PRINCIPLES AND REQUIREMENTS REGULATORY ASPECTS TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS ECONOMICS SOCIETAL ISSUES MANAGEMENT OPTIONS – TREATMENT & DISPOSAL IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 10

Safety Assessments Intercomparaison and Harmonization • SADRWMS: Safety Assessment Driving Radioactive • • Waste Management Solutions (2004 -on going) De. Sa: Evaluation and Demonstration of Safety of Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities (2004 -2007) ASAM: Application of safety assessment methodology–near surface repositories (2002 -2007) GEOSAF: Application of safety assessment (Case) methodologies for geological repositories (2008 - ) EMRAS: Environmental Modelling for Radiation Safety (2003 -2007) IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 11

Peer Review and Appraisal Services Provide Member States with assurance that their strategies, policies and operations comply with International Standards and Best Practices Give independent assessments of radiological conditions IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 12

International Peer Review Service on Decommissioning: Bradwell NPP • Initiated at the request of Magnox, UK • Powerful method of self-improvement and sharing experience • Complementary to OSART, IRRS, WANO services • IAEA Methodology and supporting documents tested • TM to discuss the lessons learned in Nov, 6 to 7 2008 First “pilot“ review mission to Bradwell NPP (UK) June 2008 Joint EC-IAEA-Ukraine project (15 WWERs Units) 2009 IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 13

Geological disposal, where are we? • Implementation of waste repositories important for future nuclear use • Many different reasons for delays • Common standards are important • Global Waste Safety Regime established • International cooperation and multilateral initiatives discussed IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 14

Upsurge in the U Mining Industry the Current Challenge • Legacy issues: avoiding past mistakes IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 15

Remediation IAEA Goals for the Future • From exploration to closure • • • Application of international safety standards Lifecycle planning from exploration to closure Re-treatment or re-use of residues Remediation Site clearance Future land use and sustainability IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 16

The UN Chernobyl Forum IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 17

Recommendations: Radwaste • Priority is the decommissioning of the destroyed Chernobyl Unit 4 and the safe management of radioactive waste in the Exclusion Zone, as well as its gradual remediation IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 18

Ch NPP decommissioning • Development of a realistic decommissioning plan for units 1, 2 and 3 of Ch. NPP consistent with: • The international (IAEA) safety standards • The national regulatory requirements • World-wide good practices • Support in establishing a comprehensive Waste Management Programme for the Ch. NPP • Decommissioning • Shelter • Support in project management and human resource management for decommissioning IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 19

Radioactive waste management • • • Assistance to the Government of Ukraine in strengthening its Radioactive Waste Management Policy, Strategies and Practices Specific problems • • • Specific needs • • • Specific Exclusion zone conditions (post-accident contamination). Legislation only for normal operation conditions. Reference radionuclide compositions of radioactive waste could not be determined (post-accident conditions). • Need for safety assessment capability and capacity to develop safety arguments as a basis for safety demonstration and licensing Need for systematic and structured safety assessment for waste disposal Need for supporting analytical software tools IRRS mission to Ukraine in 2008. IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 20

IAEA Ukraine Annual Topical Meeting on Radiation Safety Kiev-December 2008 21