Supplementary memorandum submitted by
RWMAC
RWMAC STUDY ON
CONDITIONING, PACKAGING
AND STORAGE
OF UK INTERMEDIATE
LEVEL RADIOACTIVE
WASTE (ILW)
This is a study which RWMAC is carrying out
jointly with the Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee (NuSAC).
RWMAC's reasons for undertaking the work derive
from the Committee's view of the significant developments that
have taken place in the four year period since the collapse of
the Nirex programme for deep geological disposal of ILW. RWMAC
has also commented publicly on the need for consistency between
different items of regulatory guidance, and between regulatory
guidance and government policy.
Against this background, storage of ILW, both
raw and conditioned, on nuclear sites is subject to regulatory
control by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) which
consults the environment agencies on operator proposals. Waste
packaging proposals, along with, where necessary, the retrieval
and conditioning of raw waste, also need NII agreement. A "Letter
of Comfort" from Nirex is required concerning the potential
disposability of the final package. Thus a complex range of regulatory
requirements, formal and informal (since Nirex has no formal regulatory
locus) apply.
The study seeks to determine whether there are
currently clear and sensible aims and objectives for the conditioning,
packaging and storage of UK radioactive waste. Are these objectives
accepted by all the key players, clearly set out in advice and
guidance and universally applied. Are they sufficient to safeguard
the health of both the public and radiation workers? If not, what
problems is this likely to give rise to and how might these problems,
in relation to different waste streams, be addressed?
A key issue concerns how best to achieve a sensible
balance between the benefits of putting unconditioned wastes into
a passively safe form for storage (ie, not requiring human intervention)
compared with conditioning that might foreclose future disposal
options. A related question is the life-time of ILW stores which
nuclear operators need to take account of in planning their waste
management strategies.
Like all RWMAC studies, RWMAC's report will
be published once it has been submitted to Ministers.
RWMAC
January 2002
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