Improvement of Institutional Radioactive Waste Management via Implementation of Environmental Management System

Abstract

Management of institutional radioactive waste in Slovenia is one of the main processes in the management system of Agency for Radwaste Management (ARAO). The management system integrates the quality management system ISO 9001 and the environmental management system that was certified according to the standard ISO 14001:2004 in October 2007. The certificate represents a permanent commitment of ARAO to improve the environmental management system and implement environmental planning. Environmental planning includes and maintains environmental objectives and targets in all ARAO’s activities, especially in managing the institutional radioactive waste that can have potential environmental impacts and is considered as a risky activity from the public view point. We defined a general ARAO’s register of environmental aspects with seven main groups of aspects. Each aspect was evaluated according to its impacts with the help of multiple criteria and only the aspects evaluated as significant are dealt with in further environmental planning. Environmental planning was implemented in the process of managing of institutional radioactive waste. Our methodology for evaluating the significance of environmental aspects showed three significant aspects. Appropriate environmental objectives and targets were defined for these aspects in a way that they were measurable, if applicable, consistent with the ARAO’s environmental policy. It was assured that they provided adequate environmental protection measures and protection of human health, compliance with national legal requirements and international directives dealing with radioactive waste management and that the production of radioactive waste was minimized. The environmental planning is carried out annually, and each year we are looking for opportunities to minimize potential environmental impacts of our service. In this paper, ARAO’s experience with environmental planning and the realization of the objectives and targets that have already been achieved, implemented and integrated in the process of managing of institutional radioactive waste are presented. The results and the successful completion of environmental programs contribute to optimization of the management system and the quality of ARAO’s process performance. Implementation of environmental management system according to ISO 14001 increased the satisfaction of producers of institutional radioactive waste management that come from medicine, research and industry. It is also part of confidence building by our stakeholders.