The scientific, technical, and sociopolitical challenges of finding a secure site for a geological repository for radioactive wastes have created a long and stony path for many countries. Japan carried out many years of research and development before taking its first steps in site selection.

As outlined in the overall program for high-level waste (HLW) management in Japan, defined by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), HWL separated from spent nuclear fuel during reprocessing will be immobilized in a glass matrix and stored for a period of 30 to 50 years to allow cooling; it will then be disposed of in a stable deep geological formation.

The primary objective of government policy, and of NUMO in implementing this policy, is to
ensure that a repository for Japan’s high-level radioactive waste is located so as to provide
secure isolation of the waste and adequate safety for present and future generations. This
means that the site has to be chosen carefully, taking full account of all its characteristics. In
order to address these characteristics in an orderly and structured manner, we have established

Radioactive waste is produced from a wide range of human activities. The wastes arising from the nuclear fuel cycle occur as a wide range of materials and in many different physical and chemical forms, contaminated with varying activities of radionuclides. Their common feature is the potential hazard associated with their radioactivity and the need to manage them in such a way as to protect the human environment. The safe disposal of radioactive waste is a key reequirement of the nuclear industry worldwide.

The constraints set by the Japanese HLW disposal programme – particularly associated with
the decision to initiate siting by an open call for volunteers to host a geological repository –
pose particular challenges for repository project management. In order to maintain the
flexibility required to respond to the conditions found at volunteer sites, NUMO has not
published reference designs or site characterisation plans, as is normal for programmes
progressing by site nomination. Instead, we have developed a methodology – the NUMO

In the year 2000, the geological disposal program for high-level radioactive waste in Japan moved from the phase of generic research and development (R&D) into the phase of implementation. Following legislation entitled the “Specified Radioactive Waste Final Disposal Act”, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan (NUMO) was established as the implementing organization.

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.

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.