Overview of European practices and facilities for waste management and disposal

Abstract

With a total installed electronulear capacity of about 140 GWe, nuclear reactors are the principal source of radwaste in Europe (excluding military applications). On the basis of their nuclear energy programmes, European countries can plan their future radwaste inventories with good accuracy. National agencies have been created to supervise and coordinate the management of radioactive waste. The degree of centralization as well as `privatization' of these management activities varies a lot from country to country. All European radwaste management programmes are based on the classification of radwaste as low-, intermediate- and high-level waste. Short-lived, low-level waste can be placed in near surface repositories while long-lived, intermediate and high-level wastes are planned to be stored in deep underground repositories. Some European countries pursue an active reprocessing policy (e.g. France, Great Britain) while others have opted for direct spent fuel disposal (e.g. Sweden and Finland). Throughout Europe, investigations are being conducted on various geological media to assess the safety and feasibility of a final repository for high-level waste. In contrast, several low- and intermediate-level waste repositories are already in operation in Europe, e.g. at Soulaines in France (near surface repository) or at Forsmark in Sweden (geological repository).