ENSI reports to the IAEA on radioactive waste and spent fuel elements
The Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) today submitted the fifth Swiss National Report in connection with the international Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (the “Joint Convention”) to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In the fifth National Report in connection with the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, ENSI provides information on the following topics, among others:
- the latest status of the sectoral plan for deep geological repositories
- the quantities of radioactive waste in the interim storage facilities and
- the safety-related challenges involved in the management of spent fuel elements and radioactive waste.
ENSI’s report shows how various points raised at the last Review Meeting of the Joint Convention are being implemented by the Inspectorate in Switzerland. At the last of these meetings in 2012, for example, the drafting of a special new guideline on decommissioning was viewed as one of the challenges facing ENSI.
In April 2014, Guideline G17 on the decommissioning of nuclear installations was brought into force by ENSI. The basis for this guideline includes the global requirements defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The new decommissioning guideline states the legal requirements in specific form. It is already applicable to the preparations for decommissioning the Mühleberg nuclear power plant.
The fifth Review Meeting, at which the latest National Reports will be discussed, is to take place in spring 2015.