The effective termination of the Yucca Mountain program by the U.S. Administration in 2009
has left the U.S. program for management of used fuel and high level radioactive waste (HLW)
in a state of uncertainty. In concert with this major policy reset and in response to the resulting
policy vacuum, the President directed the Energy Secretary to establish the Blue Ribbon
Commission on America’s Nuclear Future (BRC) “…to conduct a comprehensive review of
policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle and to provide recommendations for
Dear Members of the South Carolina Congressional Delegation:
Thank you all for your letter of October 27th. We appreciate hearing your views on the
Yucca Mountain project, the safety benefits of deep geologic disposal, and the
importance of the retaining the H Canyon facility at the Department of Energy’s
Savannah River Site.
In our draft report, the Commission finds that deep geologic disposal is an essential
component of a comprehensive nuclear waste management system. Your comments
This report describes a novel approach developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(ORNL) for the estimation of the uncertainty in the prediction of the neutron multiplication factor
for spent nuclear fuel. This technique focuses on burnup credit, where credit is taken in criticality
safety analysis for the reduced reactivity of fuel irradiated in and discharged from a reactor.
Validation methods for burnup credit have attempted to separate the uncertainty associated with
This paper draws on my experience as a reviewer of the scientific programs and performance assessments of the geological repository for transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico and the proposed repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. In addition, I have served on numerous committees of the National Research Council that have addressed many aspects of nuclear waste management.
The objective of this calculation is to provide the uncertainty term for fission product and minor actinides which contributes to the determination of the critical limit for burnup credit calculations. The scope of this calculation covers PWR and BWR spent nuclear fuel. This activity supports the Criticality Department's validation of burnup credit. The intended use of these results is in future Criticality Department calculations and analyses.
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.
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.
The Republic of Croatia signed the “Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management” (Joint Convention) on 9 April 1998, and ratified it on 5 February 1999. The first National Report on implementation of the obligations under the Joint Convention was prepared at the beginning of 2003, and the Republic of Croatia participated at the Review Meeting later that year. The second National Report was prepared in 2005 also followed by an active participation at the Review Meeting in 2006.
The government of the Republic of Korea, as a contracting party to the Joint<br/>Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive<br/>Waste Management (hereinafter referred to as “Joint Convention”) which entered into<br/>force on June 18, 2001, and deposited the ratification of on September 16, 2002,<br/>described the state of implementing the contracting party’s obligations in the Third<br/>National Report, pursuant to Article 32 (Reporting) of the Joint Convention.<br/>This National Report was prepared in accordance wi
Second Review Meeting, Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, written questions submitted to Luxembourg
Joint Convention Questions Posted to Argentina in 2009
Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, Canada's Responses to Questions, April 2009
This is the Finnish National Report, in accordance with the provisions of the Article 32 of the Joint Convention, to the 4th Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties in May 2012. The aim of this report is to present the recent developments of waste management in Finland, to describe waste management facilities and practices in Finland and, for discussion and review among contracting parties, to describe how the obligations under the Convention are fulfilled in Finland.
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 signa- ture. 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.
The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management was adopted on 29 September 1997 in the Vienna Diplomatic Conference. Finland signed the Convention on 2 October 1997 and deposited the tools of acceptance on 10 February 2000. The Convention entered into force on 18 June 2001. The fulfillment of the obligations of the Convention and the developments after the second Review Meeting are assessed in this report.
