Assessing the Scale of the Radioactive Waste Management Problem: A Review of European Union and International Reporting

Abstract

Information on the management of radioactive waste (RW), including inventory, can be obtained from several sources, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Commission. The IAEA is collecting voluntary national profiles through the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. The European Commission is requiring reports from Member States in accordance with Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom, which establishes a framework for the safe and responsible management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. The findings from these reports are published by the IAEA and EC every three years and provide comparable information on RW policies, frameworks, and programs, with a significant focus on waste and spent fuel inventories and associated practices and technologies. This paper reviews the latest available reports from the Commission and the IAEA, focusing on the RW inventory and disposal status. The paper presents some findings on the overall situation in the European Union (EU) and the comparison of inventories between EU Member States, as well as a comparison with the reporting from the IAEA regarding the global situation. The presentation of the radioactive waste and spent fuel inventories is normalized per person and land area, with the intention of improving understanding of the scale of the RW management problem. The relative scale of the problem is also demonstrated by comparison with hazardous waste inventories. There is a total of 264,000 tons of spent fuel worldwide, equivalent to concentration of 2 g/km² or 0.04 g/capita. The total amount of all categories of radioactive waste is 37.6 million m³, equivalent to 290 l/km² or 5 l/capita. The majority of RW (92%) is very low or low level, and 81% has already been disposed of. In comparison, ten times more hazardous waste is produced worldwide each year (~50 kg/capita/year). These numbers indicate that the amounts of RW are relatively small. The status reports, with a high percentage of RW disposed of, show that RW is routinely manageable, including the management of high-level RW. This is also demonstrated by the fact that Finland is soon to open a permanent disposal site, with several other countries following suit.