Nuclear Waste Management in Europe
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This contribution briefly summarizes nuclear waste management activities in Europe. Information was selected from a series of articles published recently in Nuclear Europe.1'2
Nuclear power is being widely used in Europe and contributes greatly in some countries to the total generation of electricity (Figure 1). Most countries with large nuclear power programs have decided to reprocess rather than dispose of spent fuel. The use of nuclear power is associated with the generation of large amounts of radioactive waste, i.e., low and intermediate waste from reactor operation, reprocessing, and fuel fabrication. The high-level waste arises only from reprocessing. All these wastes must be handled, conditioned, stored, and disposed of safely. This requires industrial manage-
ment and the involvement of independent licensing authorities. Low and Medium-Level Waste In France, the long-term disposal of radioactive waste is managed by l'Agence Nationale pour la Gastion des Dachets Radioactifs (ANDRA). This agency is responsible for conceiving, setting up, building, and running disposal sites; for drawing up and controlling the technical specifications for packaging and disposal; and for performing research and development activities. France has 15 years of experience in shallow land burial. In the Manche center near the La Hague reprocessing plant, 260,000 m3 of low and medium waste have been managed and disposed of. Only the short-lived beta-gamma wastes (800,000 m3 by the year 2000) are suitable for shal-
Figure 1. Nuclear share of total electricity generated in European countries (NEA data document 1985).
low land burial in concrete coves. These wastes will decay to negligible levels within 300 years. Alpha-bearing wastes (75,000 m3 by the year 2000) and vitrified wastes (3,000 m3 by 2000) must be disposed of elsewhere. In the United Kingdom, the Nuclear Industry Radioactive Waste Executive (Nirex) is in charge of managing low and medium-activity wastes and in identifying and studying potential sites for their final disposal. Two repositories, one trench and one deep site, are needed in the next 50 years. Relevant research and development is in progress and several sites have been named for further studies. While deep sea disposal of packaged radioactive wastes was practiced at one time, it was suspended in 1983 as a result of a resolution of the Convention on the Disposal of Wastes at Sea (London Dumping Convention). Since then 400 tonnes of waste have been prepared for sea disposal but have been stored at UK establishments. In Belgium, ONDRAF/NIRAS (Belgium's National Agency for Radioactive Waste and Fissile Materials) is in charge of radioactive waste management. Low and medium-activity wastes were dumped into the North Atlantic up to 1983, when this disposal means was suspended. Since then, ONDRAF/NIRAS has investigated the land burial option, but a suitable site in the country may not become operational before 1996. In the meantime, adequate storage facilities must be provided for the waste to await further handli
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