1. General information
From 15 to 24 May 2006, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna hosted the Second Review Meeting of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. The First Review Meeting had taken place in November 2003, and the next one is to be held in May 2009. Some 500 delegates from 40 signatory states engaged in a question and answer process to discuss the reports submitted by the individual parties. The issues discussed included disposing of radioactive waste and irradiated fuel elements, decommissioning nuclear facilities and handling disused sealed radioactive sources. It took eight days to complete this peer review process.
2. Structure of the Review Meeting
On the basis of the national reports to be submitted by each of the contracting parties, the parties had the opportunity to scrutinise the respective national waste management policy (including the legal and administrative basis, technical status and implementation of waste management policy in individual projects) by asking questions, either in writing or verbally, and, where necessary, to propose improvements to that policy. In line with Article 36 of the Convention, the consultations are confidential. During the Review Meeting, all other contracting parties were informed of the consultations in the rapporteur's daily reports and in an oral summary. The outcomes of the conference were published in the President's written summary report.
3. Presentation and discussion of the German report
Germany's presentation was based on the national report published in October 2005 (Bundesrat printed paper 767/05 of 18 October 2005) and on major developments following its submission, on questions raised by other contracting parties and on open issues from the First Review Meeting. The presentation featured the following aspects:
Following on from the discussion of the German report by the contracting parties, the rapporteur's report identified the following challenges for future efforts to ensure safe and environmentally sound disposal of radioactive waste and irradiated fuel elements in the long run:
- authority supervising the operator (independent unit within the Federal Office for Radiation Protection)
- that corresponds to current practice in countries with an advanced disposal programme
- remediation activities
- review of energy companies' practice of setting aside funds for decommissioning and disposal
- completion and publication of a national waste management plan
- continuation of the procedures for the closure of the Morsleben repository and the Asse research mine
At the Third Review Meeting in May 2009, Germany will have to report to the contracting parties to the Convention on the follow-up measures taken to address these outstanding issues. The contracting parties involved in the review highlighted the storage capacity provided for irradiated fuel elements from nuclear power plants, which would be sufficient until decommissioning, as well as the due consideration given to all forms of external impacts, including an assessment of the impact of a major plane crash, as part of the licensing procedures for storage facilities (licence according to section 6 of the Atomic Energy Act for the storage of fuel elements). In addition, they welcomed the progress made on decommissioning and dismantling nuclear facilities with the aim of creating greenfield sites as well as the remediation work undertaken by WISMUT GmbH. The advances in recycling the plutonium generated as a result of reprocessing were also noted favourably.
4. Results of the Review Meeting
The contracting parties concurred that considerable progress had been made since the First Review Meeting. However, they also shared the view that there was a strong need for further action, particularly with regard to
- elements,
- the treatment of radioactive waste from contaminated sites,
- cooperation with the polluters responsible for radioactive waste and the public,
- the control of disused sealed radioactive sources, including the handling of orphan sources,
- knowledge management and the recruitment of skilled staff.
The parties to the Convention all agreed that increased public participation was the only way to gain acceptance of plans for the disposal of radioactive waste and irradiated fuel elements. There is still a large number of unresolved issues relating to the disposal of radioactive waste and irradiated fuel elements in deep geological formations. Some parties, however, did report that progress had been made in the selection procedures for potential sites for these facilities. As regards decommissioning and dismantling nuclear facilities and ensuring that adequate financial resources are available in the future to dispose of radioactive waste, it was found that many contracting parties had undertaken measures to finance these activities. However, many parties are now reviewing these measures with a view to ensuring that these activities can be financed in the long term given the increasing deregulation of the electricity market.
5. Outlook
The Third Review Meeting will take place from 11 to 22 May 2009. The national reports, which are to address the outstanding issues mentioned in the rapporteurs reports from the Second Review Meeting, have to be submitted by 11 October 2008.