The development of radioactive waste repositories involves consideration of how the waste and the
engineered barrier systems will evolve, as well as the interactions between these and, often relatively
complex, natural systems. The timescales that must be considered are much longer than the timescales
that can be studied in the laboratory or during site characterisation. These and other factors can lead to
various types of uncertainty (on scenarios, models and parameters) in the assessment of long-term,

In RD&D-Programme 92, SKB presented a partially new strategy for its activities. The new strategy entailed a focusing and concentration on the implementation of deep disposal of a limited quantity (about 800 tonnes) of encapsulated spent nuclear fuel during the coming 20-year period. Following this initial deposition, the results of the work will be evaluated, and only then will a decision be taken as to how and when regular deposition of the main body of the fuel and other long-lived nuclear waste will take place.

This paper explores the relationship between the national environmental movement and nuclear technology in relation to a local emergent group. The historical development of nuclear technology in this country has followed a path leading to continued fear and mistrust of waste management by a portion of the population. At the forefront of opposition to nuclear technology are people and groups endorsing environmental values.

This work was performed to suggest possible strategies for geoscientific classifications in the siting process of a high-level repository. To develop a feasible method for geoscientific classifications, a number of factors of a philosophical character, related to the purpose of the classifications, need to be accounted for. Many different approaches can be visualized, and this report was not intended to present a complete classification methodology.

Explanation of Radioactivity and Radioactive waste

This report provides - a detailed description of the Austrian policy and the usual practices concerning the management of spent fuel of the Austrian research reactors and the management of radioactive waste (see Section B); - a detailed description of the Austrian legal regime concerning the management of spent fuel of the Austrian research reactors and the management of radioactive waste (see Section E).

Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, Answers to Questions Posted by the Contracting Parties on the Argentina Second National Report

. 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 United States of America ratified the “Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management” (Joint Convention) on April 9, 2003. The Joint Convention establishes an international peer review process among Contracting Parties and provides incentives for nations to take appropriate steps to bring their nuclear activities into compliance with general safety standards and practices. This first Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties under the Joint Convention is scheduled to take place in November 2003 in Vienna, Austria.

Finland signed the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management on 2 October 1997 and deposited the tools of acceptance on 10 February 2000. The Convention entered into force on 18 June 2001. The major generators of radioactive waste in Finland are the two nuclear power plants, the Loviisa and Olkiluoto plants. The Loviisa plant has two PWR units, operated by Fortum Power and Heat Oy, and the Olkiluoto plant two BWR units, operated by Teollisuuden Voima Oy.

On 8 December 1997 Belgium has signed the Joint Convention. The Belgian legislator has expressed its consent with the obligations resulting from the Convention via the Law of 2 August 2002. The ratification was obtained on 5 September 2002. The Convention became effective on 4 December 2002, or 90 days after the Ratification Act had been deposited. Belgium belongs to the group of Contracting Parties having at least one operational nuclear generating unit on their territory.

Denmark signed the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management 29 September 1997, the day it opened for signature. The Convention was accepted 3 September 1999 by letter from the Foreign Ministry to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Until further notice the Convention does not apply for the autonomous territories Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which both do not possess spent nuclear fuel or radioactive waste. The present report is the Danish National Report for the Second Review Meeting to the Convention.

Nuclear facilities in Japan are as listed in the following table, the details of which are described in Section D.