NEA press room

Press kit: Radioactive waste management

Radioactive waste, in a commonly cited definition is "...any material that contains a concentration of radionuclides greater than those deemed safe by national authorities, and for which no use is foreseen."* Most civilian radioactive waste is produced by nuclear power generation, with the remainder generated by the use of nuclear materials in medical, industrial and research processes. The volume of radioactive waste, in comparison with industrial toxic waste, is relatively small.

The amount, type and physical form of radioactive waste varies considerably. Some forms of radioactive waste need only be stored for a relatively short period of time while their radioactivity naturally decays to safe levels. Others remain radioactive for hundreds or even thousands of years. This is usually expressed using the term 'half-life', the time it takes for half of any given number of atoms to decay.

Low-level waste (LLW) can normally be handled without particular shielding, while intermediate-level waste (ILW) might require shielding and may contain significant amounts of long-lived radionuclides. Definitions of what constitutes LLW and ILW vary from country to country, but typically LLW is defined as such materials as rubber gloves, shoe covers, lab coats, cleaning cloths, paper towels, etc., that have been used in an area where radioactive material is present. ILW usually requires special precautions during handling to limit radiation exposures. Some forms of ILW need long-term isolation because of the long-lived radionuclides that they contain. Typical examples of ILW are filter ion-exchange resins, filter sludges, precipitates, evaporater concentrates, incinerator ash and fuel cladding. LLW and ILW may be further subdivided into catagories according to the half-lives of the radionuclides they contain, with "short-lived" waste decaying in less than 30 years and "long-lived" taking more than 30 years to decay.

High-level radioactive waste (HLW) refers to the highly radioactive waste requiring shielding and permanent isolation from man's environment. Typically this is the spent nuclear fuel produced by nuclear power plants. Most of these materials also need long-term cooling. Because of these characteristics special disposal practices are needed. Although the relative amount of HLW is small with respect to the total volume of radioactive waste produced in nuclear power programmes, it contains 99% of the radioactivity. While the half-lives required for the radioactivity of HLW to decay completely may be up to a million years, it typically takes about 10 000 years for the radioactivity of such waste to decay to the level which would have been generated by the original ore from which the nuclear fuel was produced, should this ore never have been mined.

The IAEA estimates that the generation of electricity from a typical 1000 MW(e) nuclear power station produces approximately 300 m3 of low and intermediate-level waste per year and some 30 tonnes of high-level, solid, packed waste per year.

Radioactive waste must be safely stored pending shipment, processing or disposal. "Short-term" storage is provided at many facilities before the waste is shipped off-site for treatment or disposal. In other cases, radioactive waste may be placed in "long-term" storage to allow the level of radioactivity in the waste to decay. If it is intended to retrieve the waste at a later date it is considered stored, rather than in final disposal.

Because of the low volume (compared with other industrial processes) of waste produced and the special processing and disposal methods required, it is often more economic to transport radioactive waste to central processing, storage or disposal facilities. All such transport must be carried out in accordance with the relevant national and international model regulations (the ADR for road transport, the ADN for inland waterways, the RID for rail transport, the IMO dangerous goods code for sea transport and the ICAO technical instructions for air transport). The transboundary movements of radioactive waste in Europe are also subject to European Union regulations.

In the case of some LLW from nuclear reactors, medical applications and research, the half-lives of the radioactive substances in the waste are short enough that effective disposal is achievable by deposition in supervised near-surface vaults, whilst decay takes place.

The current preferred option for eventual disposal of HLW is emplacement in repositories deep underground in well-chosen geological media. In general, the geological disposal concept involves treating the waste in order to achieve a suitable physical and chemical form, packaging it inside long-lived engineered barriers emplaced deep underground, and sealing these facilities with appropriate materials. In these underground surroundings, as opposed to the surface environment, conditions remain stable over the long periods needed to allow the radioactivity to decay to a sufficiently low level. In operation since 1999 is the US Department of Energy Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), in New Mexico, which permanently disposes of transuranic radioactive waste left from the research and production of nuclear weapons. Spent nuclear fuel requires both isolation from the human environment and long-term cooling. In July 2002, the US Senate approved the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada as a long-term geological repository for spent nuclear fuel and HLW. The US Department of Energy must now develop a plan for transporting HLW to the site and apply to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to construct and operate the Yucca Mountain repository. It is expected that this application will be submitted during 2004. If approved, construction of the repository could begin in 2007-2008, with the first fuel shipments being made by 2010.

Construction of an underground laboratory for an HLW deep geologicalal disposal site in Eurajoki, Finland began in 2004. The Finnish parliament approved the scheme in 2002.

The process of choosing a site for disposal of spent fuel in Sweden is in progress and two municipalities are currently participating in site investigations. Once the site investigations are complete a site wil be proposed in 2007 by the company set up to deal with Swedish radioactive waste. A final decision on where the deep repository is to be built will be taken by the government around 2010. The Swedish repository should be ready to accept fuel shipments towards 2015.

NEA Radioactive waste management programme

Related NEA reports and publications

Stakeholder Involvement in Decommissioning Nuclear Facilities
International Lessons Learnt
Significant numbers of nuclear facilities will need to be decommissioned in the coming decades. In this context, NEA member countries are placing increasing emphasis on the involvement of stakeholders in the associated decision procedures. This study reviews decommissioning experience with a view to identifying stakeholder concerns and best practice in addressing them. The lessons learnt about the end of the facility life cycle can also contribute to better foresight in siting and building new facilities. (2007)

Fostering a Durable Relationship between a Waste Management Facility and its Host Community
Adding Value through Design and Process
Any long-term radioactive waste management project is likely to last decades to centuries.  It requires a physical site and will impact in a great variety of ways on the surrounding community over that whole period.  The societal durability of an agreed solution is essential to success.  This report identifies a number of design elements (including functional, cultural and physical features) that favour a durable relationship between the facility and its host community by improving prospects for quality of life across generations. (2007)

NEA News: Advanced fuel cycles and radioactive waste management
In a new NEA publication, the effects of various advanced fuel cycles on the management of radioactive waste are assessed relative to current technologies and options, using tools such as repository performance analysis and cost studies. The results of the study show that advanced fuel cycles offer possibilities for various strategic choices regarding uranium resources and optimisation of waste repository sites and capacities, while keeping almost constant both the radiological impact of the repositories and the financial impact of the complete fuel cycle. (2006)

Post-closure Safety Case for Geological Repositories
Nature and purpose
Disposal of long-lived radioactive waste in engineered facilities deep underground is being widely investigated worldwide in order to protect humans and the environment both now and in the future. This report defines and analyses the purpose and general contents of the post-closure safety cases for such facilities. The aim is to provide a point of reference for people involved in the development of safety cases and those with responsibility for, or interest in, decision making in radioactive waste management. (2004)

The Handling of Timescales in Assessing Post-closure Safety
Lessons Learnt from the April 2002 Workshop in Paris, France
A workshop entitled "The Handling of Timescales in Assessing Post-closure Safety" of deep geological repositories for radioactive waste was organised by the NEA in April 2002. This report presents the main lessons learnt from the workshop discussions and is intended to help promote the better understanding of issues related to the handling of timescales in a safety case. (2004)

The Regulator's Evolving Role and Image in Radioactive Waste Management
Lessons Learnt within the NEA Forum on Stakeholder Confidence
Of all the institutional actors in the field of long-term radioactive waste management (RWM), it is perhaps the regulatory authorities that have restyled their roles most significantly. Modern societal demands on risk governance and widespread adoption of stepwise deicison-making processes have influenced the image and role of regulators. Legal instruments both reflect and encourage a new set of behaviours and a new understanding on how regulators may best serve the public interest. (2003)

An International Peer Review of the Yucca Mountain Project TSPA-SR
This summary presents the key results of the international peer review of the US Department of Energy (USDOE) Total System Performance Assessment supporting the site recommendation process (TSPA-SR) issued in December 2000 for the Yucca Mountain site. The review was carried out at the request of the USDOE Yucca Mountain Project (YMP) and was jointly organised by the NEA and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). (2002)

Reversibility and Retrievability in Geologic Disposal of Radioactive Waste
One of the key topics in the area of “Overall Waste Management Approaches” in radioactive waste management and geologic disposal programmes is the reversibility of decisions in waste disposal programmes and the potential for retrieval (retrievability) of disposed waste from a geologic repository. (2001)

The Role of Underground Laboratories in Nuclear Waste Disposal Programmes
This report explains what underground research laboratories (URLs) are, the different types, their locations, the types of research and development that are carried out, their value to national programmes, questions to be considered when deciding when to construct a URL, and the opportunities and benefits of international co-operation in URLs. (2001)

Confidence in the Long-term Safety of Geological Repositories: Its Development and Communication
This report is aimed at practitioners of safety assessment and at technical specialists wishing to become versed in the subject. It is intended to improve communication among these specialists by clarifying the concepts related to the development of confidence, and by placing the various measures that are employed to evaluate, enhance and communicate confidence in the technical aspects of safety in a clear, logical framework. These measures are increasingly embodied in actual procedures applied in today’s safety assessments, and can be incorporated in a common framework, despite differences in approaches, practices and constraints both within and between repository projects. (1999)

Low-Level Radioactive Waste Repositories: An Analysis of Costs
Low-level radioactive waste (LLW) arises in the normal operation of nuclear power plants and fuel cycle facilities, as well as from the use of radioactive isotopes in medicine, industry and agriculture. This report sets out the costs of operating disposal sites for LLW in OECD countries, as well as the factors that may affect the costs of sites being developed. This publication will be of special interest to experts in the field of radioactive waste management and economics of the nuclear fuel cycle. (1999)

Progress Towards Geological Disposal of Radioactive Waste: Where Do We Stand?
Since the geological disposal concept was proposed, research and development efforts world-wide have increased understanding of how underground disposal facilities will function over very long periods of time, and have enhanced confidence in the ultimate safety of the concept. While significant progress has been made towards development of these facilities, there have also been delays and setbacks primarily due to failure of the waste management experts and institutions to win sufficient public or political support. In recent years, as the concept itself is nearing implementation in several countries, support is being voiced in some quarters for postponement of disposal and for more review of alternative waste management options. (1999)

The Environmental and Ethical Basis of Geological Disposal of Long-lived Radioactive Waste
This report presents such a consensus position in the form of a Collective Opinion of the Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC) of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. It addresses the strategy for the final disposal of long-lived radioactive waste seen from an environmental and ethical perspective, including considerations of equity and fairness within and between generations. This Collective Opinion, by professionals having responsibilities at a national level in the field of radioactive waste management, is intended to contribute to an informed and constructive debate on this subject. It is based on recent work reported from NEA countries and on extensive discussions held at an NEA workshop organised in Paris in September 1994 on the Environmental and Ethical Aspects of Long-lived Radioactive Waste Disposal. (1995)

Related links

Recent NEA radioactive waste press releases

The International Atomic Energy Agency Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle & Waste Technology (NEFW)
IAEA division charged with providing Member States with information and advice on the present status of and prospects for fuel cycle and waste management.

Yucca Mountain Project
The Yucca Mountain site is a US Department of Energy project located in Nye County, Nevada, approximately 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Posiva Oy
The Finnish expert organisation Posiva Oy is responsible for the characterisation of sites for final disposal of spent fuel produced in Finland and for the construction and operation of a final disposal facility.

Radwaste.org
Internet portal of links to radioactive waste management resources and information available online.

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