Browse by: "R"

Nuclear decommissioning activities can greatly benefit from research and development (R&D) projects. This report examines applicable emergent technologies, current research efforts and innovation needs to build a base of knowledge regarding the status of decommissioning technology and R&D. This base knowledge can be used to obtain consensus on future R&D that is worth funding. It can also assist in deciding how to collaborate and optimise the limited pool of financial resources available among NEA member countries for nuclear decommissioning R&D.

These fact sheets present the radioactive waste management programmes of 20 OECD/NEA member countries. They include information about the sources, types and quantities of waste as well as how and by whom they are managed. References for further information are also provided for each country.

The Preservation of Records, Knowledge and Memory (RK&M) across Generations initiative was launched by the Nuclear Energy Agency in 2011 to foster international reflection and progress towards this goal and to meet increasing demands by waste management specialists and other interested parties for viable and shared strategies. The RK&M initiative is now in its second phase, which is to last until 2017. Phase I culminated on 15‑17 September 2014 with the organisation of an international conference and debate on "Constructing Memory" held in Verdun, France.

The conference was attended by approximately 200 participants from 17 countries and 3 international organisations. Participants included specialists from the radioactive waste management area and beyond, academics in the fields of archaeology, communications, cultural heritage, geography and history, as well as artists, archivists, representatives from local heritage societies and from communities that could host a radioactive waste repository.

In this workshop proceedings, Spanish stakeholders and delegates from 14 countries discuss current co-ordination of radioactive waste management decision making in Spain. Findings were shared from Cowam-Spain, a co-operative research project on the involvement of local stakeholders, the relationship between national and local levels of decision making, and the long-term sustainability of decisions regarding the siting of a centralised interim storage facility for high-level waste. These proceedings include the workshop presentations and discussions, as well as the rapporteurs' reflections on what was learned about policy making and participative decision making.

Large volumes of hazardous wastes are produced each year, however only a small proportion of them are radioactive. While disposal options for hazardous wastes are generally well established, some types of hazardous waste face issues similar to those for radioactive waste and also require long-term disposal arrangements. The objective of this NEA study is to put the management of radioactive waste into perspective, firstly by contrasting features of radioactive and hazardous wastes, together with their management policies and strategies, and secondly by examining the specific case of the wastes resulting from carbon capture and storage of fossil fuels. The study seeks to give policy makers and interested stakeholders a broad overview of the similarities and differences between radioactive and hazardous wastes and their management strategies.

The international system of radiological protection is being revised to make it more coherent and concise. During the revision process, particular attention is given to the development of an explicit system for the radiological protection of the environment in addition to that of human beings. These proceedings comprise the views of a broad range of invited speakers, including policy makers, regulators, radiation protection and environmental protection professionals, industry, social scientists and representatives of both non-governmental and intergovernmental organisations.

GEOTRAP is the OECD/NEA Project on Radionuclide Migration in Geologic, Heterogeneous Media carried out in the context of site evaluation and safety assessment of deep repository systems for long-lived radioactive waste.

Retention of radionuclides within the geosphere for prolonged periods is an important safety function of deep geologic disposal concepts for radioactive waste. The extent to which retention processes can be relied upon in repository performance assessment depends upon the existence of well-established theoretical bases for the processes. It also depends on support for the operation of specific retention processes, and models for their quantitative evaluation, from a wide range of laboratory and field experiments and observations from nature. The fifth GEOTRAP workshop, "Geological Evidence and Theoretical Bases for Radionuclide-retention Processes in Heterogeneous Media" held in May 2001, looked at radionuclide-retention processes and their consideration and representation in performance assessments. Current approaches to characterising and modelling retention processes, and suggestions for future improvements, were presented and discussed.

In addition to the material presented during the workshop, this publication includes a technical synthesis reflecting the discussions that took place as well as the conclusions and recommendations made, notably during the working group sessions.

One of the key areas in fuel safety is the analysis of fuel behaviour under reactivity-initiated accident conditions. Reactivity-initiated accident fuel rod codes have been developed for a significant period of time and they all have shown their ability to reproduce some experimental results with a certain degree of adequacy. However, they sometimes rely on different specific modelling assumptions whose influence on the final results of the calculations is difficult to evaluate. This report summarises three phases of benchmark conducted by the NEA between 2010 and 2019 with codes for calculating fuel behaviour in reactivity initiated accidents. Building on previous NEA reports, it provides recommendations for future research and code enhancements for safety analysis regarding reactivity accidents.

Large quantities of materials arising from the decommissioning of nuclear facilities are non-radioactive per se. An additional significant share of materials is of very low-level or low-level radioactivity and can, after having undergone treatment and a clearance process, be recycled and reused in a restricted or unrestricted way. Recycle and reuse options today provide valuable solutions to minimise radioactive waste from decommissioning and at the same time maximise the recovery of valuable materials. The NEA Co-operative Programme on Decommissioning (CPD) prepared this overview on the various approaches being undertaken by international and national organisations for the management of slightly contaminated material resulting from activities in the nuclear sector. The report draws on CPD member organisations’ experiences and practices related to recycling and reuse, which were gathered through an international survey. It provides information on improvements and changes in technologies, methodologies and regulations since the 1996 report on this subject, with the conclusions and recommendations taking into account 20 years of additional experience that will be useful for current and future practitioners. Case studies are provided to illustrate significant points of interest, for example in relation to scrap metals, concrete and soil.

The International Symposium on the Reform of Civil Nuclear Liability, organised by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency in co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Commission, was held in Budapest, Hungary from 31 May to 3 June 1999. The event attracted over 200 participants from 50 countries, with a view to examining nuclear liability and compensation issues in the context of the recent revision of the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, the adoption of the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage and the current negotiations being carried out under the aegis of the OECD/NEA on the amendment of the Paris and Brussels Conventions. These proceedings reproduce all papers which were presented at the Symposium, and provide detailed records of the discussion periods.

Regulating the long-term safety of geological disposal of radioactive waste is a key part of making progress on the radioactive waste management issue. A survey of member countries has shown that differences exist both in the protection criteria being applied and in the methods for demonstrating compliance, reflecting historical and cultural differences between countries which in turn result in a diversity of decision-making approaches and frameworks. This conference proceedings presents discussions focused on diversity in regulatory processes; the basis and tools for assuring long-term protection; ethical responsibilities of one generation to later generations and how these can be discharged; and adapting regulatory processes to the long time frames involved in implementing geological disposal. These proceedings include a summary of the viewpoints expressed as well as the 22 papers presented at the workshop.

Integrated performance assessments (IPAs) of radioactive waste repositories deep underground are made at different stages of repository development in order, for example, to allow full-scale development, to provide feedback to R&D, and to test and develop review capability. IPA studies must be acceptable to a wide range of stakeholders and are one of the bases for dialogue amongst regulators and implementers of disposal facilities.
The goal of the IPAG-2 study was to examine the experience of regulatory reviews of IPAs, from both the implementer and regulator points of view. Ten implementer and seven regulatory organisations participated. This report presents the lessons learnt from their review experiences, and provides recommendations to aid future regulatory decision making.

Regulator-industry co-operation in nuclear safety research has potential advantages as well as disadvantages. This report provides research managers in industry, regulatory organisations and research centres with information on current practices in collaborative safety research in OECD member countries. It identifies means of establishing effective industry-regulator collaboration and provides indications on how to overcome difficulties that can arise. It also advises on possible areas of concern. The report addresses in particular the issue of regulator independence, means to preserve it and ways to demonstrate it to the public while undertaking collaboration with industry.

Experimental facilities are essential research tools both for the development of nuclear science and technology and for testing systems and materials which are currently being used or will be used in the future. As a result of economic pressures and the closure of older facilities, there are concerns that the ability to undertake the research necessary to maintain and to develop nuclear science and technology may be in jeopardy.

An NEA expert group with representation from ten member countries, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Commission has reviewed the status of those research and test facilities of interest to the NEA Nuclear Science Committee. They include facilities relating to nuclear data measurement, reactor development, neutron scattering, neutron radiography, accelerator-driven systems, transmutation, nuclear fuel, materials, safety, radiochemistry, partitioning and nuclear process heat for hydrogen production.

This report contains the expert group’s detailed assessment of the current status of these nuclear research facilities and makes recommendations on how future developments in the field can be secured through the provision of high-quality, modern facilities. It also describes the online database which has been established by the expert group which includes more than 700 facilities.

Spent nuclear fuel contains minor actinides (MAs) such as neptunium, americium and curium, which require careful management. This becomes even more important when mixed oxide (MOX) fuel is being used on a large scale since more MAs will accumulate in the spent fuel. One way to manage these MAs is to transmute them in nuclear reactors, including in light water reactors, fast reactors or accelerator-driven subcritical systems. The transmutation of MAs, however, is not straightforward, as the loading of MAs generally affects physics parameters, such as coolant void, Doppler and burn-up reactivity. This report focuses on nuclear data requirements for minor actinide management, the review of existing integral data and the determination of required experimental work, the identification of bottlenecks and possible solutions, and the recommendation of an action programme for international co-operation.