AGREEMENT REACHED ON REVIEW OF LONG-TERM SAFETY ASSESSMENT OF UNITED STATES RADIOACTIVE WASTE ISOLATION PLANT

Press Release
IAEA/1302

AGREEMENT REACHED ON REVIEW OF LONG-TERM SAFETY ASSESSMENT OF UNITED STATES RADIOACTIVE WASTE ISOLATION PLANT

VIENNA, 7 June (IAEA) -- Agreement was reached in Paris today among the United States Department of Energy, the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to organize an international peer review of the long-term safety analysis of the waste isolation pilot plant, a United States disposal facility in New Mexico expected to receive long-lived radioactive waste in the near future.

The review, to be conducted over a six-month period beginning October, was requested by the United States Department of Energy. It will be organized jointly by the two agencies as part of the services they offer in the field of radioactive waste management to their member countries. The plant -- which includes disposal rooms excavated in an ancient, stable rock salt formation located at 654 metres (2,150 feet) underground -- is designed to permanently dispose of transuranic radioactive waste generated by defence-related activities. Transuranic waste consists primarily of clothing, tools, rags and other disposal items contaminated with radioactive elements, mostly plutonium.

As in most countries with nuclear programmes, the preferred method for the disposal of long-lived radioactive waste, such as transuranic waste, is its long-term isolation in a system of multiple barriers located in deep and stable geological formations. The pilot plant site was selected and constructed to meet the criteria established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the safe long-term disposal of transuranic waste. A formal license application for the disposal of transuranic waste at the site -- called the Compliance Certification Application -- is to be submitted by the Energy Department to the EPA. The application will include an assessment of the long-term safety of the repository after its closure.

The objective of the joint agency peer review will be to examine whether the post-closure assessment of the plant is appropriate, technically sound and in conformity with international standards and practices. For the purpose of the review, the two agencies will constitute a joint secretariat and appoint a group of independent international experts in the various disciplines involved in long-term safety assessments, such as geology, geochemistry, material

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sciences, radiation and environmental protection, and nuclear safety. The expert group will include representatives from nuclear regulatory bodies, radioactive waste management agencies, universities and research institutions.

The review will be based on detailed documentation provided by the United States Department of Energy and discussions with specialists involved in the project during a visit to the plant. A report containing the international expert group's findings will be transmitted to the United States Government.

Through such peer reviews, it is possible to benefit from the experience of the world's leading experts in nuclear waste disposal and radiological safety assessments, and to take into account the approaches followed by other countries towards the safe disposal of long-lived radioactive waste. Those reviews are in line with the two agencies' common objective of promoting the adoption of safe policies and practices for the disposal of radioactive waste in their respective member countries.

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