Ongoing challenges:
Emergency Managementand Management of Radioactive Waste
Gerhard ProehlSevere local and regional problems and global
disruptions

FDNPP 2011
Chernobyl NPP 1986

Contamination of land

Fukushima compared to Chernobyl:
comparable Cs-deposition levels but over smaller area
Fukushima, 2013/12/17

After Vandenhove et al., 20123

Intensive
decontamination
work was carriedout in theFukushima
Prefecture:
Before and after
the work in Tamura
City (IAEA, 2015)

Systematic
monitoringof locallygrown rice(IAEA, 2015)• Economic implications due to stigmatization of rice fromthe Fukushima Prefecture, even if the Cs-level compliedwith the limits for food• Monitoring of all rice bags in the Fukushima in thesubsequent years to regain confidence of the consumers

Generation of waste duringdecontamination work

Management of nuclear emergencies• Effective response arrangements and capabilities are
essential− Minimize the radiation doses to people from nuclear and radiologicalincidents and emergencies.
− Introduce situation-specific protective action as evacuation,
sheltering, relocation and application of stable iodine, as necessary− Remediation activities to limit long-term exposures to the population• IAEA has developed Safety Standards for Emergency Preparedness
and Response and for Remediation of contaminated land
− These standards have been used in many countries to set up National
regulations

IAEA Safety Standards:– Emergency Preparedness
and response– Remediation of affected
areas

Developed in cooperation withInternational organizations ase.g.
• World Health Organisation• Food and AgriculturalOrganisation• UN Environmental
Programme

International
Conventions on
Emergency
managements
coordinated byIAEA• Convention on Early
Notification of a
Nuclear Accident• Convention on
Assistance in the Caseof a Nuclear Accident
or RadiologicalEmergency

Key aspectsof the Safety
Standards• Roles and responsibilities of Nationaland International Organisations• Radiological criteria• General arrangements for getting
prepared for emergency managements−Requirements for infrastructure andlogistics−Training, drill and exercises−Organizational procedures• Activation of a general emergency• Need for hazard assessment• Monitoring• Interaction with Technical Support
Organizations

Emergency management - a multi-disciplinary challenge
Safety Standards
Regulatory framework,
Roles and responsibilities,
criteriaOrganization
Arrangements and procedures,
logistics

Nuclearemergency
management

Science-based knowledge
Radioecology
Radio analytic
Radiation biology
Radiation medicine
Radiation protection• Analytic of radionuclides in a wide range of media− Air, soil, water, food, construction material− Detection of alpha-, beta- and gamma-emitters• Environmental monitoring− What? Where? When? How long? How often?

Scientificpreparedness
foremergencies(incomplete selectionof activities)• Assessment of radiation doses for a wide range ofexposure groups and conditions• Scientific basis for the selection of short- and longterm measures− Effectiveness in dose reduction− Technical feasibility− Costs and side-effects− Social and cultural implications• Advice on lifting of restrictions and termination ofmeasures• Providing advice− To the affected people− To address general concerns by the population− To farmers− To the food industry• Health effects of radiation

ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD)……. Whatever the future of nuclear

Maintaining anddeveloping
competence inradiation related
topics is essentialgeneration programmes, i.e. regardless ofwhether new nuclear power plants arebuilt,……. there will be an ongoing requirement
for several decades in the regulatory
bodies and the industry……. to recruit qualified staff to fill thevacancies left by retirements and topreserve the present knowledge base.

Managementof radioactive
waste

Generation of radioactive waste• Operation nuclear facilities• Decommissioning of nuclear
installations• Use of radioisotopes in science, industry
and medicine
Safety of radioactive waste• Such waste needs to be managed in away……. that keeps people and theenvironment……. safe over long periods of timeElements of radioactive Waste Management
All administrative and operational
activities involved in• Handling• Pre-treatment• Treatment• Conditioning• Transport• Storage and• Disposal of radioactive waste.

15

IAEA Safety
requirements
and standards

Safety Standards on Safety Assessment

17

Disposal Options for Radioactive Waste
Nearsurface• For short-lived RAW, low-activity sources• Available in many countries

Geological• For all types of RAW and sources,• in particular spent fuel and waste fromreprocessing• Not yet available in most countries

Borehole• For all types of Disused Radioactive Sources• A possible safe and secure solution without
waiting decades for geological disposal• Very relevant for countries with DSRS thatwill not have geological disposal• Not yet available
18• Nuclear techniques are applied since more than 70years− All generate at least small amounts of RadWaste• Disposal facilities− Few facilities exist for low- and intermediate level waste− No facility is available so far for high level radioactivewaste

Disposal of• In Sweden and Finland, licensing of a facility for high level
waste is ongoing.
radioactivelicensing and construction of disposal
waste – An • Planning,facilities
ongoing − A long and complex endeavour requiring a multidisciplinary approach
challenge• Geology and hydrology• Engineering• Radiation Protection and Radioecology• And others

Sound scientific education in these fields is the absolute precondition for successful realization of disposal facilities

Conclusion• The ENEP project covers two important topics− Management of the consequences of nuclear accidents− Disposal of radioactive waste• Both topics are important issues in many countries− Little success has been made so far on disposal of RadWaste, mainly
due to anxieties and low acceptance by the public• Whatever the development in this fields might be,….. It requires well educated and skilled scientists in radiation related
field to work on these challenges• The ENEP programme is one important step in developing
scientific offspring in these important areas.