Belgian Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials

Country presentation BELGIUM

NIRAS/ONDRAF

IAEA workshop on Safe Disposal of Low Level Radioactive Waste

Paris, 3 – 5 February, 2015

P. De Preter, W. Wacquier, W. Cool, R. Bosselaers

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NIRAS/ONDRAF • The Belgian Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials • Responsible for the management of all radioactive waste in Belgium • Four basic missions:

Inventory Management Decommissioning Enriched System Fissile Materials

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NIRAS/ONDRAF Management System

Prevention Sorting

Identification

Volume reduction

Stabilization and

encapsulation

Interim storage

Long-term management

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Hig

h le

vel

Med

ium

level

Lo

w le

vel

Short half-life A A C

Long half-life B B C

Disposal of category A waste

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1985

Disposal

concept +

scientific and

technical

knowledge

but no site

4 integrated disposal projects

including site

1998

Policy

Decision

on disposal

2006

Policy

Decision

on surface

disposal &

site

Exploratory studies Preliminary Design

Disposal programme since 1985

Prelicensing FANC – NIRAS/ONDRAF

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Council of Ministers - January 1998

•Policy decision for DISPOSAL - Final solution - Reversible - Stepwise and flexible - Either surface or geological disposal facility

•Siting to focus on existing nuclear sites and interested municipalities

•Co-operate with local actors to integrate disposal in local socio-economic structure

Public participation in decision-making processes through the creation of local partnerships

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Preliminary design phase (1998 – 2006) • NIRAS/ONDRAF in collaboration with local partnerships

- STOLA, Dessel

- MONA, Mol

- (PaLoFF, Fleurus-Farciennes)

Safety and feasibility studies of surface disposal and deep disposal

Local positive decisions in Dessel & Mol

• In 2006, the federal government decision : NIRAS/ONDRAF to develop an integrated surface disposal project in Dessel as a long-term solution for Belgian category A waste.

– In “co-design” with STORA and MONA

– Formal interaction with safety authorities

• Need for a regulatory framework “disposal” (licensing procedure & regulatory requirements & regulatory guidance)

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1985

Disposal

concept +

scientific and

technical

knowledge

but no site

4 integrated disposal projects

including site

1998

Policy

Decision

on disposal

2006

Policy

Decision

on surface

disposal &

site

Exploratory studies Preliminary Design

Disposal programme since 1985

Prelicensing FANC – NIRAS/ONDRAF

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2006

Realisation of the cAt

project

Transition from active to passive

management

Design

Future phases

License Application … Construction Operation Closure

Jan. 2013

2018 ??

At least 2050

Waste

disposal

activities and

active

management

Main License

Construction &

Operation

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Repository design

Caisson factory

Storage/

processing

Installation for

the production of

monoliths (IPM)

Transport

by rail

Disposal module

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Pre-licensing 1998 - 2013

- Intensive process between FANC & NIRAS/ONDRAF

- No third party supervision or follow-up

- Parallel development of (1) disposal system + safety case by NIRAS/ONDRAF and (2) regulatory framework by FANC

- No direct involvement of stakeholders (partnerships) in the pre-licensing process and limited transparency

- Difficult convergence on the interpretation & application of main safety principles (Defense-in-depth, optimisation, …)

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Pre-licensing 1998 - 2013

- Incomplete regulatory framework at the moment of license application(January 2013)

- No binding specific regulatory requirements for disposal (i.e. long-term safety)

- Guidances issued at FANC level

- Heavy reliance on international safety standards and international recommendations (IAEA, ICRP)

- A long pre-licensing and licensing process is faced with evolving application of standards and evolving « good or best international practices »

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Conclusions

• Planning the development of a disposal facility is a major challenge – Policy decisions (1998 & 2006) – Participative model and societal dimension (siting e.g.) – Pre-licensing and licensing process

Pre-licensing process of about 15 years

Duration of licensing step not defined in regulation

• Disposal program requires - Solid and stable foundations at all levels

- Policy decisions - constrains technical and societal process

- Regulatory framework disposal (early parallel development and issuance)

- Stakeholder involvement

- Financial framework

- Forward looking, adaptive & fair decisional process