Nuclear power is a clean and sustainable source of energy, yet today its development is at a standstill in many regions of the world. And most forecasts, including those of the IAEA, suggest a decrease in nuclear's share of electricity production in the next two decades. The reasons are well known - decreasing competitiveness, public concerns regarding the safety of reactor operation and of waste management, as well as concerns about the possible misuse of nuclear material for military purposes. The focus placed on each of these concerns differs from country to country. The future of nuclear power will depend to a great extent, however, on the success of the nuclear community to address all of them.
As regards waste management, the problem centres on the disposal of high level radioactive waste and spent fuel, when considered as waste. (For the sake of brevity, I will refer to the whole simply as "high level waste".) The solution to this problem most often considered is geological disposal, deep underground, using a system of multiple engineered and natural barriers. It is the collective opinion of specialists that geological disposal can be realized and its safety assessed by methods that are already available. Despite this, no disposal facility for high level waste has yet been licensed for operation anywhere.
Since the first significant quantities of fuel were removed from civil reactors in the second half of the 1970s, countries with nuclear power programmes should be, by now, actively embarking on repository siting activities. Some countries are in fact doing so. However, in most countries, the development of repository siting programmes is facing difficulties.
Lack of public acceptance of the disposal concept, resulting from fears about safety, lack of confidence in the technology, and lack of knowledge about the options, continues to be the major hurdle in most countries. This lack of acceptance has manifested itself in the so-called 'not in my backyard' syndrome.
Other hurdles also hinder progress. Some countries cite the cost of implementation of such programmes as a curtailing factor. Although this cost is normally only a small percentage of the total costs for electricity production, some States with weaker economies experience difficulties in allocating the necessary resources. Some countries also lack the specialists, equipment and technical infrastructure needed to embark on such programmes. Yet, some others may not have the appropriate geological make-up for the development of repositories.
Long term storage and retrievability are often associated with the idea that coming generations may want to manage the waste in a different, and possibly better way. Both options have their merits, although they are considered by some to be a deflection of responsibility on the part of the present generation. The detailed assessment of these options started only recently and any conclusions may be premature. The retrievability option, however, is receiving widespread attention and almost all countries with research and development programmes on disposal in geological formations are assessing its feasibility and consequences in terms of design, safety and implementation. A few States are already considering feasibility demonstrations.
Preliminary assessments of partitioning and transmutation, taken in association with reprocessing, indicate that this option may have drawbacks in terms of the near term availability of the technical infrastructure and cost. Nevertheless, some countries consider that further experimental work is still needed.
While investigation of these options continues, some countries have made concrete steps towards designing and constructing disposal repositories. Several of them, including Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland have developed or are developing underground research facilities. These facilities provide means for improving site characterization and investigation methodologies and for studying the processes and phenomena that are expected to occur. In addition, several countries have active site screening and investigation programmes, for example, Sweden, Finland and the United States. States are also developing legal and regulatory frameworks to ensure the safety of geological disposal.
Decisions on whether, how, and when to implement a geological disposal programme have technical, economic, societal as well as legal implications. And, although it may be difficult to reach a consensus on all aspects in any one country, progress on the national level can be assisted and guided considerably by the development of an international consensus on a common approach and common strategy.
For more than two decades the IAEA has implemented programmes of technology exchange related to the geological disposal of high level wastes. These programmes have included the convening of international conferences and symposia on the technical and safety aspects of geological disposal, the organization of co-ordinated research projects to bring experts from different States together to share ideas and experiences, and the preparation of reports on state of the art technology.
The IAEA has issued publications covering the treatment and storage of high level wastes, the siting of geological repositories, the investigation and characterization of repository sites, and the design of repositories and the methodology for the performance and safety assessment.
The Agency also organizes peer reviews, upon request, of proposed or ongoing national radioactive waste management programmes. This service is known as the Waste Management Assessment and Technical Review Programme (WATRP). Disposal programmes, concepts or facilities have several times formed the specific object of a review. Countries where reviews have been carried out on geological repository programmes include the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The last review - carried out jointly with the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency - focused on the 1996 performance assessment of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico in the United States. These reviews have been quite helpful in improving the approach or supporting the approval of repository programmes.
The Agency has also given special attention to the need for agreed norms and standards in the waste management area. In this regard, a Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, concluded under the auspices of the Agency, was opened for signature in September 1997. We now have about half the ratifications needed for it to enter into force. The Convention establishes commonly shared safety objectives and sets out the specific obligations of Contracting Parties aimed at achieving those objectives. When it enters into force, adherence to these national obligations will be monitored through an international process of peer review by the other Contracting Parties. Every three years, each Contracting Party must prepare a report on the measures it has taken to meet its obligations under the Convention, and each national report will be distributed for review by all of the Contracting Parties. The three-year cycle culminates in a Review Meeting, where each national report is discussed along with the comments and questions from other Contracting Parties.
Although it is well established that repositories must be sited, designed, constructed and operated in accordance with national laws and regulations, public acceptance of the adequacy of those laws and regulations will certainly be made easier if they are based on internationally accepted standards of safety. Unfortunately, geological disposal is perhaps the only area covered by the IAEA corpus of safety standards where the level of international consensus seems to have actually decreased in recent years.
The IAEA is also concerned with the application of its safeguards system with respect to the geological disposal of high level waste containing nuclear material of safeguards relevance. A multinational Member State support programme for the Development of Safeguards for Final Disposal of Spent Fuel in Geological Repositories has been launched to foster technological advancement in this area. The aim is to ensure that the safeguards systems developed for the final disposal of spent fuel effectively meets the objectives of IAEA safeguards, optimizes resources and makes the best use of existing technologies while still meeting the objectives of safety and environmental protection.
High level waste management is a complex issue, yet we cannot escape its existence and the fact that its amounts are steadily rising. Progress towards the siting, construction, and operation of a geological repository requires decisive steps to be taken. If decisions on a repository programme are postponed, other decisions will need to be taken to deal with the immediate future, including those that relate to the provision of adequate interim storage capacity.
The challenge for the international community is to assist States to narrow the gap in the safety perception and make progress towards solutions that are both technically sound and acceptable. Assistance should also be given to countries with fragile economies and limited technical capabilities to properly address disposal questions in a timely manner.
The IAEA sees itself as having an important role in assisting its Member States to cope with these challenges and I have recently allocated increased budgetary resources to this priority area. We intend to enhance the exchange of information among scientists, technicians, operators, regulators and policy makers on the various matters related to disposal programmes, and on the available options and consequences of postponing a decision or extending implementation schedules. As an example of an information exchange initiative, I should mention the forthcoming IAEA International Conference on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management to be hosted by the Spanish Government in Córdoba in March 2000. Disposal will be one of the important issues to be discussed at that symposium.
Fostering and facilitating co-operation on state of the art technologies is seen as another vehicle for building international consensus and helping Member States make progress in implementing these technologies.
It is clear, as I have said, that the establishment of a full set of international safety standards related to disposal would facilitate public acceptance of the effectiveness of national laws and regulations. The Agency intends to take a proactive approach towards developing such standards through consensus.
I would like to conclude by expressing my appreciation to Secretary Richardson for convening this important meeting and by congratulating the Department of Energy for the recent progress in its repository programme.