• Radioactive Waste Management

Radioactive waste arising from the operation and decommissioning of nuclear facilities as well as from the use of radioisotopes for medical, industrial or research purposes has to be managed responsibly, as the health risk as one aspect of the management of such materials could have an impact not only on today’s population but also on future generations.
Therefore, decision-making and management of the various tasks involved need to be based on reliable data regarding amount, characteristics and history of the collected wastes. In addition, the disposal has to be documented thoroughly to guarantee provision of sufficient knowledge to future generations. Each Country has a strategy for the handling and storage of radioactive waste.
Radioactive waste is categorized by its specific activity and the handling and storage of it has to be undertaken according to the respective requirements of each category.
Currently, each Counties use its own definition of waste categories. This approach does not pose a problem as long as the country decides to manage the waste on its territory on a purely national level. If, however, wastes were to be managed between different Countries on an international level, harmonisation of waste categories between these States would become necessary and it should be introduced a new waste classification system as reference, like the one proposed by the IAEA.
The work carried out in this study aims to provide an overview of the status of the implementation of national radioactive waste and spent fuel management strategies in five European Countries, as well as at making some recommendations for future waste management systems. The study covers collection, reporting and record keeping of radioactive waste and spent fuel data in the following European Countries: Belgium, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and United Kingdom.