IAEA-TECDOC-1187 Retrievability of high level waste and spent nuclear fuel Proceedings of an international seminar organized by the Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste in co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency And held in Saltsjöbaden, Sweden, 24–27 October 1999 KASAM STATENS RÅD FÖR KÅRNAVFALLSFRÅGOR Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste December 2000 The originating Section of this publication in the IAEA was: Waste Safety Section International Atomic Energy Agency Wagramer Strasse 5 P.O. Box 100 A-1400 Vienna, Austria RETRIEVABILITY OF HIGH LEVEL WASTE AND SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL IAEA, VIENNA, 2000 IAEA-TECDOC-1187 ISSN 1011–4289 © IAEA, 2000 Printed by the IAEA in Austria December 2000 FOREWORD The possibility of retrieving spent nuclear fuel or reprocessing HLW placed in geological repositories is an issue that has attracted increased attention during the past few years, not only among technical experts but also among politicians at different levels, environmental organizations and other interested representatives of the public. Some arguments for retrievability often mentioned in the discussions are, for instance, that: · it must be possible to take remedial actions if it would appear that the repository does not perform according to expectations; · new technologies or new economic conditions may lead part of the waste, particularly spent fuel, to be considered a useful resource; · new technologies may be developed which can make the radioactive waste less dangerous or even harmless. The Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste (KASAM) decided to convene an international seminar on this issue at Saltsjöbaden, a town close to Stockholm, Sweden, on 24–27 October 1999. During the planning of the seminar, KASAM informed the IAEA about its intentions and asked for some form of support. In consideration of the significant interest in the issue of retrievability in a number of IAEA Member States and within the Secretariat, KASAM’s invitation was accepted and the IAEA decided to co-operate in the organization of the seminar. As a result of that decision IAEA staff members participated in the seminar and the IAEA agreed to publish the proceedings in the TECDOC series. The intention of the seminar was to obtain an overview of how the issue of retrievability is looked upon in different countries and also to have an opportunity to discuss — among experts — how important areas, such as public acceptance, safety, safeguards, funding, etc. are connected to the retrievability issue. The aim of the seminar was not to produce any consensus statements on retrievability, but rather to initiate broader thinking and to stimulate the discussion in the countries concerned and in international organizations within this area. For that reason much time was devoted to discussions, which have also been covered in this publication. The IAEA officers responsible for this publication were E. Warnecke and F. Gera of the Division of Radiation and Waste Safety. EDITORIAL NOTE This publication has been prepared from the original material as submitted by the authors. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the IAEA, the governments of the nominating Member States or the nominating organizations. The use of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement by the publisher, the IAEA, as to the legal status of such countries or territories, of their authorities and institutions or of the delimitation of their boundaries. The mention of names of specific companies or products (whether or not indicated as registered) does not imply any intention to infringe proprietary rights, nor should it be construed as an endorsement or recommendation on the part of the IAEA. The authors are responsible for having obtained the necessary permission for the IAEA to reproduce, translate or use material from sources already protected by copyrights. CONTENTS SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................ 1 OPENING ADDRESS ............................................................................................................................ 5 A.J. González INTERNATIONAL REVIEW AND SOME NATIONAL UPDATES ON RETRIEVABILITY (Session 1) Retrievability: An international overview............................................................................................. 21 P.J. Richardson Concerted action on the retrievability of long lived radioactive waste in deep underground repositories — Progress to date ........................................................................ 35 D.H. Dodd Stepwise decision making and options for retrieval in the Swedish KBS-3 concept ........................... 41 T. Papp Phased reversibility under the current French disposal concept........................................................... 49 J.–M. Hoorelbeke Retrievability in the Belgian deep disposal concept in clay ................................................................. 57 P. de Preter Retrievability as proposed in the US repository concept...................................................................... 63 P.G. Harrington PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE (Session 2) Report from the UK Consensus Conference On Radioactive Waste Management, May 1999........................................................................................................................................ 73 A. Hiett Why do experts never have the answer to the public? .......................................................................... 81 H. Åhagen, K. Andersson Retrievability — A matter of public acceptance? Reflections on the public review of the proposed nuclear fuel waste disposal concept in Canada ......................................................... 91 G. Riverin Has Wellenberg shown the way, or is it merely postponing the inevitable? ...................................... 115 E. Kowalski, M. Fritschi ETHICAL ASPECTS (Session 3) Retrievability in an ethical perspective............................................................................................... 129 A.–M. Thunberg Retrievable disposal — Opposing views on ethics ............................................................................. 137 H.A. Selling Retrievability, ethics and democracy .................................................................................................. 147 M. Jensen, M. Westerlind Summarising discussion on Session 3................................................................................................. 157 LONG TERM MONITORING AND COST CONSIDERATIONS (Session 4) Acoustic remote monitoring of rock and concrete structures for nuclear waste repositories............................................................................................................. 165 R.P. Young Allocation of responsibilities for monitoring and retrieval activities ................................................. 179 C. McCombie Cost-related implications of retrieval; Who should pay? Who should assess the cost/benefit?......... 189 O. Söderberg Summarising discussion on Session 4................................................................................................. 203 SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS ASPECTS (Session 5) Safeguards for geological repositories................................................................................................ 211 A. Fattah The SAGOR project and its outcome.................................................................................................. 221 M. Tarvainen Practicably irrecoverable and retrievable at the same time?: Finding a balance between safeguard concerns and other uncertainties about the future........................................................ 227 J. Swahn Safety and safeguards aspects on retrievability: A German study...................................................... 235 E. Biurrun, H.-J.Engelmann, P. Brennecke, H. Kranz The impact of retrievability on disposal of radioactive waste ............................................................ 245 F. Gera, M. Hill Safety and ethical aspects on retrievability: A Swedish nuclear regulator’s view ............................. 257 Ö. Toverud, S. Wingefors Technical feasibility of retrieval within the UK repository concept for ILW/LLW........................... 265 A. McCall Summarising discussion on Session 5................................................................................................. 271 CONCLUDING REMARKS BY CHAIRMAN, RAPPORTEURS AND OTHERS (Session 6)................................................................................. 275 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS ................................................................................................................. 291 SUMMARY An international seminar on retrievability of high level waste and spent fuel was held at Saltsjöbaden, Sweden, in October 1999. The seminar was organized by the Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste (KASAM) in co-operation with the IAEA. This publication includes the presented papers (all of them invited), an edited record of the discussions as well as some concluding remarks. The seminar addressed a wide range of aspects on retrievability, as reflected in the session titles: · Session 1: International review and some national updates on retrievability; · Session 2: Public acceptance; · Session 3: Ethical aspects; · Session 4: Long term monitoring and cost considerations; · Session 5: Safety and safeguards