This Safety Guide addresses the safety issues relevant To The disposal of disused sealed sources and provides guidance on meeting the safety requirements and criteria for such facilities. In addition to making recommendations on safety for borehole facilities, such as in site selection and characterization, design and operation, and for closure and post-closure, The Safety Guide also covers provision for containment and isolation, And The performance requirements of the engineered components of the disposal system.

Geological Repository Systems for Safe Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuels and Radioactive Waste, Second Edition, critically reviews state-of-the-art technologies and scientific methods relating to the implementation of the most effective approaches to the long-term, safe disposition of nuclear waste, also discussing regulatory developments and social engagement approaches as major themes. Chapters in Part One introduce the topic of geological disposal, providing an overview of near-surface, intermediate depth, and deep borehole disposal, spanning low-, medium- and high-level wastes. Part Two addresses the different types of repository systems – crystalline, clay, and salt, also discussing methods of site surveying and construction. The critical safety issue of engineered barrier systems is the focus of Part Three, with coverage ranging from nuclear waste canisters, to buffer and backfill materials. Lastly, Parts Four and Five focus on safety, security, and acceptability, concentrating on repository performance assessment, then radiation protection, environmental monitoring, and social engagement. Comprehensively revised, updated, and expanded with 25% new material on topics of current importance, this is the standard reference for all nuclear waste management and geological repository professionals and researchers. - Contains 25% more material on topics of current importance in this new, comprehensive edition - Fully updated coverage of both near-surface/intermediate depth, and deep borehole disposal in one convenient volume - Goes beyond the scientific and technical aspects of disposal to include the political, regulatory, and societal issues involved, all from an international perspective

This Safety Guide provides recommendations on how to meet safety requirements on the disposal of radioactive waste. It is concerned with the disposal of solid radioactive waste by emplacement in designated facilities at or near the land surface. The Safety Guide provides guidance on the development, operation and closure of, and on the regulatory control of, near surface disposal facilities, which are suitable for the disposal of very low level waste and low level waste. The Safety Guide provides guidance on a range of disposal methods, including the emplacement of solid radioactive waste in earthen trenches, in above ground engineered structures, in engineered structures just below the ground surface and in rock caverns, silos and tunnels excavated at depths of up to a few tens of metres underground. It is intended for use primarily by those involved with policy development for, with the regulatory control of, and with the development and operation of near surface disposal facilities.

Reliable methods for estimating the cost of a radioactive waste disposal programme are crucial to ensure that the necessary funding for completing the disposal programme is available. Estimating the cost for disposal is, however, a challenging and complex task. Disposal programmes themselves are complex and long term undertakings, and conditions can be expected to change significantly over the time span during which a disposal programme is developed and implemented. This publication provides Member States with information on developing cost estimates for a disposal programme and establishing funding mechanisms. It will help readers in becoming informed clients by familiarizing themselves with the approaches and complexities in cost estimates and funding mechanisms for disposal. The publication is applicable to all waste categories and both near surface and geological disposal. It contains relevant examples and case studies from national programmes. The cost figures are intended to give an indication of the possible cost of certain parts or aspects of the disposal programme rather than to compare different disposal programmes’ costs.

Focused attention by world leaders is needed to address the substantial challenges posed by disposal of spent nuclear fuel from reactors and high-level radioactive waste from processing such fuel. The biggest challenges in achieving safe and secure storage and permanent waste disposal are societal, although technical challenges remain. Disposition of radioactive wastes in a deep geological repository is a sound approach as long as it progresses through a stepwise decision-making process that takes advantage of technical advances, public participation, and international cooperation. Written for concerned citizens as well as policymakers, this book was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and waste management organizations in eight other countries.

This Safety Guide provides recommendations on the use of radioactive sources and radiation generators in well logging, including in the manufacture, calibration and maintenance of well logging tools. It provides recommendations on radiation protection and safety for the storage, use and transport of such radiation sources. The guidance in this publication is aimed primarily at operating organizations that are authorized to undertake well logging with radiation sources, as well as their employees and radiation protection officers. The guidance will also be of interest to regulatory bodies, and to designers, manufacturers, suppliers, and maintenance and servicing organizations of well logging equipment that contains radiation sources.

This Safety Guide provides recommendations and guidance on how to plan and perform monitoring and surveillance programmes for disposal facilities for radioactive waste. The Safety Guide considers monitoring and surveillance for near surface disposal facilities, for geological disposal facilities and for facilities for the disposal of waste from mining and from mineral processing. The publication provides recommendations on how to use results from the monitoring and surveillance of radioactive waste disposal facilities over their entire lifetime. It covers the different objectives of monitoring and surveillance for the different periods of the lifetime of disposal facilities, from the initiation of work on a candidate site to the period after closure of the disposal facility.

This Special Publication highlights the importance of clays and clayey material, and their multiple roles, in many national geological disposal facilities for higher activity radioactive wastes. Clays can be both the disposal facility host rock and part of its intrinsic engineered barriers, and may be present in the surrounding geological environment. Clays possess various characteristics that make them high-quality barriers to the migration of radionuclides and chemical contaminants, e.g. very little water movement, diffusive transport, retention capacity, self-sealing capacity, stability over millions of years, homogeneity and lateral continuity.

The question of what to do with radioactive waste has dogged political administrations of nuclear-powered electricity-producing nations since the inception of the technology in the 1950s. As the issue rises to the forefront of current energy and environmental policy debates, a critical policy analysis of radioactive waste management in the UK provides important insights for the future. Nuclear Waste Politics sets out a detailed historical and social scientific analysis of radioactive waste management and disposal in the UK from the 1950s up to the present day; drawing international comparisons with Sweden, Finland, Canada and the US. A theoretical framework is presented for analysing nuclear politics: blending literatures on technology policy, environmental ethics and the geography and politics of scale. The book proffers a new theory of "ethical incrementalism" and practical policy suggestions to facilitate a fair and efficient siting process for radioactive waste management facilities. The book argues that a move away from centralised, high capital investment national siting towards a regional approach using deep borehole disposal, could resolve many of the problems that the high stakes, inflexible "megaproject" approach has caused across the world. This book is an important resource for academics and researchers in the areas of environmental management, energy policy, and science and technology studies.

In 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued an Interim Report evaluating the general viability of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration's (DOE-NNSA's) conceptual plans for disposing of 34 metric tons (MT) of surplus plutonium in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a deep geologic repository near Carlsbad, New Mexico. It provided a preliminary assessment of the general viability of DOE-NNSA's conceptual plans, focused on some of the barriers to their implementation. This final report addresses the remaining issues and echoes the recommendations from the interim study.