Questions and Answers to the National Report of the Czech Republic
Questions and Answers to the National Report of the Czech Republic
Questions and Answers to the National Report of the Czech Republic
Questions and Answers to the National Report of the Czech Republic
The responsibility for the governance of Australia is shared by Australia's federal government (also known as the Commonwealth government) and the governments of the six states and two self governing territories. Responsibility for radiation health and safety in each State and Territory rests with the respective State/Territory government, unless the activity is carried out by a Commonwealth agency or a contractor to a Commonwealth agency; in those cases the activity is regulated by the Federal government (Commonwealth government of Australia).
To solve the still open question of high-level radioactive waste disposal, the countries having made the greatest progress in this
field usually choose to carry out comparing selection procedures including broad involvement of the public. This is a central
result of the “RepoSafe”symposium which took place from November 6 to 9, 2007, in Braunschweig. Within the scope of
this symposium, internationally leading experts, invited by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) and Gesellschaft
. On 25 March 1999 the Government of the Czech Republic approved the Joint Convention which came into effect in the Czech Republic on 18 June 2001. In agreement with the obligations resulting from its accession to the Joint Convention the Czech Republic has already drawn the second National Report for the purposes of Review Meetings of the Contracting Parties, which describes the system of spent fuel and radioactive waste management in the scope required by selected articles of the Joint Convention.
The Federal Government will continue to meet Germany’s existing international obligations, particularly with regard to fulfilment of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. In submitting this report, Germany is demonstrating its compliance with the Joint Convention and how it ensures the safe operation of facilities for the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, including the decommissioning of nu-clear installations.
On 25 March 1999 the government of the Czech Republic approved the Joint Convention which came into effect in the Czech Republic on 18 June 2001. In agreement with the obligations resulting from its accession to the Joint Convention the Czech Republic has drawn already the fourth National Report for the purposes of review meetings of the contracting parties, which describes the system of spent fuel and radioactive waste management in the scope required by selected articles of the Joint Convention.
This is the fourth National Report by Australia.1 The 2008 National Report and Australia’s presentation to the Third Review Meeting in 2009 highlighted the following major issues:
• progress on national uniformity;
• progress with development of a national waste classification scheme;
• radioactive waste management policy – achievements, consultation, strategy;
• spent fuel management and management of reprocessing waste;
• decommissioning;
• uranium mining waste management; and
• recruitment and skills management.
The European Atomic Energy Community (“Euratom”) is a regional organisation, as referred to in Article 39(4) of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. It became a party to the Convention on 2 January 2006. This report is submitted in compliance with Articles 30 and 32 of the Convention for the Second Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties, to be held in Vienna from 15 to 26 May 2006.
Spent fuel and radioactive waste management constitutes the final stage in power production at nuclear power plants and utilisation of ionising radiation sources in medicine, agriculture, industry and science. The importance of this stage for environmental protection, public health and safety can be hardly overestimated. The future of nuclear energy in Ukraine and worldwide depends upon effective state policy and successful practices in the safe management of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste.
This is the third National Report by Australia1. The 2005 National Report and Australia’s presentation to the Second Review Meeting in 2006 highlighted issues as to how each of the nine Australian jurisdictions within Australia’s federal system are complying with the Joint Convention. A challenge identified for Australia in the Rapporteur’s Report for Country Group 3 was “ensuring a coherent approach to regulations and waste management practice in view of the complex nature of national and regional legislation”.
There are currently nine power reactors in operation in Germany. These are exclusively light-water reactors (seven pressurised water reactors and two boiling water reactors whose fuel assemblies are composed of low-enriched uranium oxide or uranium/plutonium mixed oxide (MOX)).
Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, Questions and Comments in 2009 on the National Report posed to Germany
Joint Convention Responses to Questions Posted to Australia in 2009
Questions and Answers to the National Report of the Czech Republic
History shows that the search for sites for radioactive waste management facilities has been marred by conflicts and delays. Affected communities have often objected that their concerns and interests were not addressed. In response, institutions have progressively turned away from the traditional “decide, announce and defend” model, and are learning to “engage, interact and co-operate”. This shift has fostered the emergence of partnerships between the proponent of the facility and the potential host community, as shown in a recent NEA study.
Over the past forty years, the development of the technology needed to isolate radioactive waste in underground rock systems has been found to be a formidable problem. This is especially the case in connection with high-level waste (HLW) after its removal from operations in nuclear power plants. There is also the additional problem of isolating low- and intermediate-level waste (LILW).
The first worldwide review of geological problems in radioactive waste isolation was published by the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in 1991 (Witherspoon, 1991). This review was a compilation of reports that had been submitted to a workshop held in conjunction with the 28th International Geological Congress that took place July 9Ð19, 1989, in Washington, D.C.