1. Recognizing the importance of the safe management of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, the international community agreed upon the necessity of adopting a convention with the objective of achieving and maintaining a high level of safety worldwide in spent fuel and radioactive waste management: this was the origin of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (the “Joint Convention”), which was adopted on 5 September 1997 and entered into force on 18 June 2001. 2.

Fourth Review Meeting of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, Canada's Responses to Questions to its Fourth National Report

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)).

This is the Norwegian report to the fourth review meeting to the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (Joint Convention) to be held at IAEA in Vienna, 14–23 May 2012. Norway signed the Joint Convention on 29 September 1997, the day it was opened for signature. The Joint Convention was ratified and deposited on 12 January 1998.

On 8 December 1997 Belgium signed the Joint Convention. The Belgian legislator has expressed its consent with the obligations resulting from the Convention by the Law of 2 August 2002. The ratification followed on 5 September 2002. The Convention became effective on 4 December 2002, i.e. 90 days following ratification. Belgium belongs to the group of Contracting Parties having at least one operational nuclear power plant on their territory.

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.

Lithuania has signed this Convention on 30 September 1997 and ratified it on 18 December 2003. This Convention entered in force in Lithuania on 14 June 2004. This is the third report of Lithuania for this Convention. The aim of the report is to give the information on the fulfillment of obligations of this Convention to other Contracting Parties. This report will be discussed in the Third Review Meeting to be held in Vienna on 14-23 May 2012. This report was prepared according the Guidelines Regarding the Form and Structure of National Reports.

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.

The present document constitutes the Fourth Spanish National Report, submitted in compliance with the requirements of article 32 of the Joint Convention on Safety in the Management of Spent Fuel and Safety in the Management of Radioactive Waste, done in Vienna on September 5th 1997. This report will be examined during the review meeting of the Contracting Parties contemplated in article 30 of this Convention, which will begin in May 2012.

On 29 September 1997, the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management was open for signature at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. Brazil signed the Convention on October 11th, 1997 and ratified it by the Legislative Decree 1019 of November 14th, 2005. Brazil deposited the instrument of ratification with the Depositary on 17 February 2006.