The regulatory control of radioactive waste management : overview of 15 NEA member countries

Stakeholders in radioactive waste management include all those involved or having an interest in it, such as waste producers, waste management agencies, regulatory authorities, local communities, elected representatives, the technical intermediaries between the public and decision makers, national governments, civil society organisations, neighbours of facilities, interested members of the public and, in the wider waste management context, international bodies such as the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and the OSPAR Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-east Atlantic. The involvement of both technical and non-technical stakeholders will become increasingly important as more countries move towards the siting and implementation of geological repositories. This is already true in respect of other aspects of radioactive waste management such as transport, interim storage and the authorised discharge of liquid and gaseous effluents into the environment. A feature of this involvement is the increasing extent to which reference is made to procedures and standards applied internationally as well asnationally, and to comparisons between them. It appears, however, that such comparisons are notalways well-informed. Regulators are major stakeholders in the decision-making process for radioactive waste management. The NEA Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC) has recognised the value of exchanging and comparing information about national regulatory practices and having an informal, international network for discussing issues of common concern. The RWMC Regulators’ Forum provides considerable opportunity for such activities. This report presents the initial results of the Forum’s work. Information is given for 15 NEA member countries in a format that allows easy accessibility to specific aspects and comparison between different countries. It includes an array of facts about national policies for radioactive waste management, institutional frameworks, legislative and regulatory frameworks, available guidance, classification and sources of waste and the status of waste management. It also provides an overview of current issues being addressed and related R&D programmes. Preliminaries......Page 1 CONTENTS......Page 5 Introduction......Page 7 Reference template of national contributions......Page 21 Belgium......Page 23 Canada......Page 29 Finland......Page 47 France......Page 55 Germany......Page 71 Hungary......Page 85 Italy......Page 93 Japan......Page 105 Norway......Page 113 Slovak Republic......Page 117 Spain......Page 123 Sweden......Page 135 Switzerland......Page 149 United Kingdom......Page 161 United States of America......Page 175 Mandate of the RWMC Regulators Forum......Page 201 Contacts of the RWMC Regulators Forum......Page 203