The United States of America ratified the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel<br/>Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (Joint Convention) on<br/>April 9, 2003. The Joint Convention establishes an international peer review process among<br/>Contracting Parties and provides incentives for nations to take appropriate steps to bring their<br/>nuclear activities into compliance with general safety standards and practices.

This report is issued according to Article 32 of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management.<br/>Sweden signed the Joint Convention September 29, 1997, the first day it was open for signing, during the ongoing General Conference at IAEA.

Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, National Report of Japan for the Third Review Meeting - Annexes

The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, hereinafter referred to as the “Joint Convention”, is the result of international discussions that followed the adoption of the Convention on Nuclear Safety, in 1994. France signed the Joint Convention at the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held on 29 September 1997, the very first day the Joint Convention was opened for signature. She approved it on 22 February 2000 and filed the corresponding instruments with the IAEA on 27 April 2000.

This paper is a first consideration of the MRWS White Paper on the framework for geological disposal. It is based primarily on discussions in Working Group D on July 21 2008 but also draws on CoRWM’s informal comments on the draft White Paper, on CoRWM’s recommendations as reported in 2006 and on an overview of the responses to the consultation that preceded the White Paper. There have been few opportunities, as yet, to discuss the White Paper through the CoRWM PSE process.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has promulgated amendments to its public health and safety standards for radioactive material stored or disposed of in the potential repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada (40 CFR Part 197). Section 801 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 [(EnPA, Public Law 102-486, 42 U.S.C. § 10141 n. (1994)] directed EPA to develop these standards.

Following the guidelines set forth by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (now Ministry of Employment and Economy) Posiva is preparing to submit the construction license application for a spent fuel repository by the end of the year 2012. The long-term safety section supporting the license application is based on a safety case, which, according to the internationally adopted definition, is a compilation of the evidence, analyses and arguments that quantify and substantiate the safety and the level of expert confidence in the safety of the planned repository.

The purpose of this paper is to allow CoRWM to consider the range of issues concerning funding of a geological disposal facility (GDF) and of safe and secure interim storage, to note current developments and to identify issues that require further consideration or where CORWM should develop advice to Government.