COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and Management of Radioactive Waste: Management of Nuclear Liabilities arising out of the Activities of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) carried out under the Euratom Treaty
Date: 2013-10-25
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Belgium, EU programme, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, clearing agreement, decommissioning of power stations, nuclear power station, nuclear research, nuclear safety, radioactive waste, storage of waste













EUR-Lex - 52013DC0734 - EN











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52013DC0734

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and Management of Radioactive Waste: Management of Nuclear Liabilities arising out of the Activities of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) carried out under the Euratom Treaty /* COM/2013/0734 final */









COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT
Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations
and Management of Radioactive Waste: Management of Nuclear Liabilities arising
out of the Activities of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) carried out under the
Euratom Treaty 
1.           Executive Summary
The purpose of this Communication is to provide updated information
on the status of the decommissioning and nuclear waste management programme (DWM
programme) of nuclear installations which are managed by the Joint Research
Centre (JRC) of the European Commission. The update covers the period since the
last Communication (2008-2012)[1]
as well as the forecast for the future. In the last four years, the programme
has gained momentum and achieved solid progress in a number of key activities.
The most significant activities of the programme are located at the JRC-Ispra
site (Italy), as it hosts most of the shutdown nuclear installations of the
JRC. On the other JRC nuclear sites of Karlsruhe (Germany), Petten (the
Netherlands) and Geel (Belgium) the decommissioning activities are for the time
being relatively limited, as all three sites have nuclear installations in
operation. 
JRC-Ispra has focussed on designing and building its own
pre-decommissioning waste characterisation, treatment and conditioning
installations at its site. The total waste volumes at JRC-Ispra after
decommissioning will, once conditioned, have to be stored on-site until interim
or final waste deposit sites will be available in Italy. For this reason the
JRC is constructing an on-site interim storage facility. Meanwhile most of the
nuclear materials which are obsolete have been either shipped off-site or are
in the process of being transferred to third parties.
At the three other sites, pre-decommissioning activities have continued
for the dismantling of out-of-use equipment from past research work and the
removal off-site of obsolete nuclear fuel and other nuclear materials.
Based on the updated planning, the four sites have revised their
budget estimates with a focus on 2014-2020, the period of the new EC Multiannual
Financial Framework (MFF), but with also a forecast for the expenditures
remaining after 2020. The consolidated estimate for the whole JRC DWM programme
after 2013 amounts to 989,2 M€2012. 
Since the previous Communication the risk mitigation strategy has
provided several improvements related to the internal organisation as well as
the signature on 27 November 2009 of a Settlement Agreement between the European Atomic Energy Community and the Italian Government. The
agreement concerns:
–                        
the transfer of the responsibility for the Ispra
1 reactor decommissioning to the Italian Government as
compensation for the Italian liabilities related to previous nuclear research activities on the JRC-Ispra site;
–                        
the conditions for transfer of all waste present
at the JRC-Ispra site to the future Italian National Repository by the end of
the DWM programme; 
–                        
the limitation of the risk of later waste
reconditioning in case of changes in Italian waste acceptance criteria.
The next key steps will be to undertake actions and agree with the
relevant external partners on:
–                        
the schedule for the
execution of the Ispra Settlement Agreement, in particular the transfer of the
license of the Ispra 1 reactor;
–                        
the regulatory authorisation process in order to
better streamline it with the needs of the JRC-Ispra decommissioning projects;
–                        
the total costs for final disposal of the waste,
in particular from JRC-Ispra and JRC-Karlsruhe;
–                        
the transfer conditions of the JRC-Petten high
flux reactor at its later shutdown and at the end of the dismantling works.
The JRC DWM Steering Committee assesses on a regular basis the
decommissioning strategies and the evolution of the expenditure. The JRC also involves
the DWM Group of Independent Experts that advises on the technical projects and
the budget estimates.
An external expert evaluation conducted in 2011-2012 recognised that
significant progress had been made and endorsed the updated planning of the
different sites for the future execution of the DWM programme. 
2.           Purpose
of the Communication
The purpose of
this Communication is to update the European Parliament and the Council on the progress
of the decommissioning and nuclear waste management programme of obsolete
nuclear installations managed by the Joint Research Centre of the European
Commission. It follows up a similar Communication elaborated in 2008 and issued
in 2009[2], as well as earlier Communications in 1999 and in 2004. 
3.           Context 
Established in 1957 by Article 8 of the Euratom Treaty and
originally entirely dedicated to nuclear energy, the JRC has diversified since
the 1980’s its activities to meet the needs of the policy Directorates-General
of the Commission and other Institutions; nuclear activities currently represent
roughly one quarter of the activities of the JRC. On the basis of the Euratom
Treaty the JRC has to manage its nuclear liabilities and decommission its
installations once they have been definitively shut down. To this end a budget
heading has been created, in agreement with the European Parliament and the
Council.
The DWM programme relates to all JRC nuclear installations at the
sites of Ispra, Karlsruhe, Petten and Geel, either already shutdown or staying
in operation. In practical terms the JRC has undertaken to decommission
obsolete installations up to the total and unconditional release of the
installations (i.e. without any radiological restrictions).
The JRC DWM Steering Committee, which meets three times a year,
follows up the decommissioning strategies and the evolution of the
expenditures. 
4.           Achievements
of the Decommissioning Programme (2008 – 2012)
The JRC-Karlsruhe, JRC-Petten and JRC-Geel sites currently carry out
research activities in the nuclear field. In Ispra, all installations (reactors
and nuclear laboratories) are definitively shut down since several years, with
the exception of the cyclotron, the laboratories used for the nuclear safeguards
support and the waste management facilities. The DWM programme is therefore
more advanced at JRC-Ispra with respect to the other sites. 
4.1.        JRC-Ispra (Italy)
Currently in Italy there is no centralised national repository or interim
storage facility. In addition, transfer of radioactive waste among different
regions is regulated by directives issued by regional and local authorities. In
this context JRC-Ispra is building several waste treatment and conditioning
installations. 
The JRC-Ispra DWM programme has five main objectives:
–                        
keeping obsolete installations safe in
accordance with the safety standards in force (operations which are known as
'safe conservation')[3];
–                        
constructing or improving of waste
characterisation, treatment, conditioning and interim storage installations;
–                        
recovering, treating and reconditioning existing
waste;
–                        
conditioning nuclear materials with a view to
their storage on-site or their transfer to third parties;
–                        
decommissioning of obsolete installations and
managing the resulting waste.
4.1.1.     Status of the Programme
The programme is on-going and, following previous expert recommendations,
the management structure has been significantly re-organised. The main changes
were the appointment of a "Decommissioning Technical Programme
Manager" for the overall coordination of the site programme, the creation
of a specific sector to support the financial files of the decommissioning
projects and the re-organisation of the radiation protection support. 
In order to smoothen the procurement of outsourced support by
external companies, a more systematic approach was pursued by establishing
framework contracts in six lots: programme implementation assistance,
engineering, waste management works, dismantling works, radiological laboratory
assistance and external radiological measurements. 
The whole programme is split in ‘project families (PF)’. The main
progress per project family in the period 2008-2012 is as follows:
PF1: waste management facilities realisation
–                        
the storage facility for liquid waste started
operation;
–                        
the installations for the radiological
characterisation of waste started operation;
–                        
the facility for the conditioning of waste with
concrete has been ordered and should be ready to operate in 2015; in parallel
an appropriate 5 m3 ‘final waste package’ for the conditioned waste is in the
process of qualification;
–                        
the ‘interim storage facility’ for conditioned
waste has been designed and licensed; its construction has started in 2011 and
should be finalised in 2013. 
PF2: waste management
–                        
all the out-of-use alkali metals (15 tons) have
been evacuated from the site;
–                        
about 1700 obsolete radiological sources have
been evacuated from the site;
–                        
historical technological waste present in
various buildings has been sorted (on-going activity, approximately 40% progress
achieved), characterised, properly repacked and stored per category in a
dedicated ‘transit area’, awaiting its conditioning;
–                        
studies have been performed in order to assess
the possibilities to reduce the volume of specific waste through different
existing waste reduction processes.
PF3: nuclear materials management 
–                        
about 90% of the non irradiated nuclear
materials has been removed from the site, their title of ownership transferred,
and shipped to the U.S.A. and France for recycling;
–                        
a centralised store has been installed for the
temporary storage of the irradiated nuclear materials. 
PF4: decommissioning of obsolete installations
–                        
an extensive radiological characterisation study
has been performed for all facilities to be decommissioned; this study assessed
the possible contaminations in the installations in view of their later
decommissioning;
–                        
the old radiochemistry building (2700 m2)
is the first nuclear building on the site to be fully decommissioned and has
been released from radiological control.
Despite the significant progress, the JRC-Ispra programme faces
delays in comparison with the anticipated schedule in 2008. These delays are currently
mainly associated with the complex regulatory authorisation process.
4.1.2.     Settlement Agreement and consequences
In order to reduce the risks on the Italian liabilities linked to previous
nuclear research activities at the Ispra site, on the long term waste storage
capacities on the site and on the waste acceptance criteria, risks which were
identified in the last Communication, the European
Atomic Energy Community has signed on 27 November 2009 an Agreement with the
Italian Government in order to:
–                        
regularise the historical liabilities on the
site by transferring the responsibility for the Ispra-1 reactor decommissioning
to the Italian Government
–                        
formalise the transfer of all waste on the JRC-Ispra
site to the future Italian national repository by the end of the DWM programme;

–                        
limit the risk of later waste reconditioning
which could be the result of changes in Italian waste acceptance criteria
The Agreement has however still not been formally executed by the
Italian Government. As a consequence of this, the transfer of the license of
Ispra-1 reactor to an Italian operator has not yet been completed. 
4.2.        JRC-Karlsruhe (Germany)
The radioactive waste produced at
JRC-Karlsruhe is sent to a German utility HDB (‘Hauptabteilung
Dekontaminationsbetriebe’) located on the same site, which is
responsible for its conditioning and interim storage. An additional
characterisation and re-conditioning campaign for waste drums disposed of to
HDB before 1995 is on-going. This extra effort is needed to meet the final
waste acceptance criteria of the German final repository (Konrad) established
in 1995. 
A new approach has been introduced by the
German regulatory authority (‘Bundesamt für Strahlungschutz’ or BfS) for fixing
the financial contribution to the final disposal of waste, following an
orientative schedule for the construction, operation and final closure of the
repository. According to repartition keys fixed for all German waste producers,
JRC-Karlsruhe pays its share (1,4 %) of the on-going construction of the
disposal site and will have to contribute later to the operation and closure
costs. 
The main progress by JRC-Karlsruhe over the period 2008-2012 has
been as follows:
–                        
the dismantling of an important number of
disused equipment and the clean-up of historical waste;
–                        
the completion of the inventory of the ownership
of the obsolete nuclear materials present at JRC-Karlsruhe;
–                        
the performance of tests in order to assess the
feasibility of conditioning obsolete irradiated nuclear material that cannot be
disposed of to HDB.
JRC-Karlsruhe has obtained the license for the construction of new
scientific nuclear laboratories, meeting latest safety standards. The
scientific activities which involve higher levels of radioactivity will be
transferred to the new laboratories once they are constructed. The remaining
laboratories with low level of radioactivity will be pooled together, which
will allow the later decommissioning of the remaining vacant part of the
laboratory buildings. 
4.3.        JRC-Petten (the Netherlands)
The radioactive waste that is produced on
the Petten site is transferred to the conditioning and interim storage
facilities of the Dutch waste organization COVRA (‘Centrale Organisatie voor
Radioactief Afval’) in Vlissingen.
Since 2005 the operating licence of the high
flux reactor (HFR) has been transferred from the JRC to the Dutch company NRG
(Nuclear Research and consultancy Group), which previously operated the reactor
under a JRC licence. This has clarified the responsibilities vis-à-vis the
national safety authorities as the operator and the licence holder became a
single body. Nevertheless, the Community will continue to own the HFR (under a
long term lease contract with the Dutch Government), and has the liability for
its later decommissioning. The Member States participating to the supplementary
research programme on the HFR (the Netherlands, Belgium and France) contribute
with a yearly fee to the future decommissioning of the reactor.
For about ten years, the obsolete spent
nuclear fuel which was a historical property of the JRC has been regularly
shipped away from the site, partially to the US, partially to COVRA. The last
shipment was undertaken in March 2011.
In 2007, a contract was also
signed with NRG concerning the removal and transfer of ownership of historic
high level radioactive waste originated from experiments and from the fuel
cycle. 
4.4.        JRC-Geel (Belgium)
The radioactive waste produced on the
JRC-Geel site is transferred to the conditioning and interim storage facilities
of Belgoprocess in Dessel.
In 2002 JRC-Geel finished the initial phase of its decommissioning
programme, which consisted of the dismantling of one accelerator and the
decommissioning and release from radiological control of former nuclear
laboratories. 
Since then, JRC-Geel has established
specific contracts for the gradual removal of its obsolete nuclear materials. 
4.5.        Expenditure over the
period 2008-2012
In the earlier Communication to the Council
and the European Parliament, a budget forecast from 2008 on was presented.
Specifically for the period 2008-2012, the budget for the total JRC DWM
programme was estimated at 124 M€2003, which corresponds to 146 M€,
inflation corrected.
The accountancy of the procurements made
over the period 2008-2011 and forecasted for 2012 shows that a total of 133 M€
of credits have been consumed. This is about 9% lower than the previously
estimated figure.
Although the lower consumption is partially attributable to cost
savings, it is mainly the result of non-expenditures from postponed projects of
the JRC-Ispra programme, as mentioned here above. 
5.           Overall
Evaluation of the future Programme
In the last two years, the four concerned JRC sites have re-assessed
the DWM projects and associated costs for the period after 2013. The outcomes
of these in-depth re-assessments have been submitted to an overall review by
external experts (see section 4.6). 
In its proposal “A Budget for Europe 2020” (COM(2011)500 final), the
Commission proposed to allocate for the DWM programme for 2014-2020 an amount
of 208 M€2011 (or 212,1 M€2012, which corresponds to 234,3
M€ in current prices). The final agreed budget may be lower, depending on the
outcome of the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework for
2014-2020.
Accordingly, the breakdown table for the respective sites has been
updated (see ANNEX 1) and is commented here below. The main issues related to
the programme together with the actions to be taken are also addressed. 
5.1.        JRC-Ispra (Italy)
JRC-Ispra has performed a re-evaluation of its decommissioning and
waste management programme. All on-going and future projects have been
re-assessed with a realistic estimate of the related costs. The time schedule
for the implementation of the various projects is integrated in a ‘master plan’.

JRC-Ispra has currently started to elaborate detailed
decommissioning plans per nuclear installation. 
JRC-Ispra budget 2014-2020 and beyond 2020 (see ANNEX 1)
The budget table for Ispra in ANNEX 1 summarizes
the forecasted cost breakdown as estimated in 2008 and the current update, all
values inflation corrected (in M€2012). 
In the 2008 forecast, a progressive raise of decommissioning budget
had been expected over the period 2014-2020, linked to the start of the effective
dismantling of the major nuclear installations and the treatment of the waste. The
current figures are significantly lower: a total budget of 172,9 M€2012
is currently allocated for 2014-2020. Some projects will be postponed after
2020 and the termination of the programme is anticipated for 2030 (instead of
2028 in the 2008 forecast). This re-scheduling increases the total estimated necessary
budget beyond 2020. Still needed will be 332,7 M€2012, covering the
residual decommissioning projects (197,0 M€2012) and a reserve
(135,7 M€2012) for the future fees for the final disposal of the
waste and for possible changes in waste acceptance criteria according to the
terms of the Settlement Agreement. 
In comparison with the 2008 forecast, the total remaining budget needed
for the termination of the JRC-Ispra programme (2014-2020 plus after 2020) increases
with 8 %, from 468,3 M€2012 to 505,6 M€2012. This is partially
the result of the non-expenditures for projects not realised in the period
2008-2012 (see section 3.5) and the re-assessment of the future projects, but
it is also explained by the extended costs for the safe conservation of the
installations over a longer period of time.
Any further shift of the whole programme would lead to supplementary
expenditures estimated between 5 and 7 M€2012 per year, to deal with
the extended safe conservation of the installations. 
JRC-Ispra programme: identified issues and actions
The main issues related to the JRC-Ispra programme and related
actions can be summarised as follows:
(1)                   
The roadmap for the
execution of the terms of the Settlement Agreement has to be set by the Italian
Government.
The ‘Settlement Agreement’ with the Italian Government has been
signed in 2009. The implementation of this agreement is essential to lower the
uncertainties of the Ispra decommissioning programme. Although it had been
foreseen to transfer the license of the Ispra-1 reactor within one year
following the signature of the Agreement, this phase has not yet been executed.
EC and JRC actions: Contacts are on-going between the European
Commission and the Italian Government. Awaiting the execution of the Agreement,
the JRC has already put in place an accountancy system to calculate the
specific expenses for the safe conservation of the Ispra-1 reactor. 
(2)                   
The regulatory
authorisation process has to be better streamlined with the needs of the
JRC-Ispra programme.
Although significant progress has been made over the last years, the
JRC-Ispra programme faced some delays in comparison with the anticipated
schedule in 2008. The current delays are mainly attributed to the complex
authorisation process. 
JRC actions: Contacts have been taken with the Italian safety
authorities in order to anticipate better the necessary time schedules related
to the assessment of the safety files. In parallel, JRC identified specific
organisational measures in order to improve the process.
(3)                   
The remaining uncertainties on future JRC-Ispra
waste volumes and on the related cost for final disposal have to be reduced. 
The expected waste volumes from the future decommissioning
activities are based on best estimates. Moreover, due to the situation in Italy, the disposal tariffs are not yet known. The combination of the uncertainty on the
total waste volumes and the uncertainty on the disposal tariffs could lead to
significant changes of the current reserve included in the budget plan beyond
2020.
JRC actions: JRC-Ispra has started to establish detailed
decommissioning plans for most of the shutdown installations. These plans will
include more detailed inventories and will reduce the uncertainty on waste
volumes. In parallel the contacts with Sogin (Società Gestione Impianti
Nucleari), which has been entrusted by law to realise and operate the future
Italian National repository, have been intensified.
5.2.        JRC-Karlsruhe (Germany)
The JRC-Karlsruhe project plan has been re-evaluated based on the
experience with on-going technical realisations and based on the evolution of
the fees and contributions for the waste treatment, storage and disposal in Germany.
There is for the moment only a global assessment of waste volumes
which will arise from the future decommissioning activities.
JRC-Karlsruhe budget 2014-2020 and beyond 2020 (see
ANNEX 1)
The available budget for 2014-2020 is 37,9 M€2012. 
About half of this budget (45 %) is expected to be allocated to fees
to HDB for the reconditioning of historical waste and to BfS for the German
waste repository (Konrad), as explained above (see section 3.2). The latter are
expenditures to be paid earlier than originally foreseen, for future waste. As
this anticipated provision was not included yet in the 2008 forecast for 2014-2020,
other projects are re-scheduled during this period to comply with the available
budget.
The re-evaluation does not affect however the total remaining budget
of the programme (2014-2020 plus after 2020), which stays at 368,2 M€2012.

JRC-Karlsruhe
programme: identified issues and actions
A reduction of the uncertainties linked to the waste volumes and the
related cost for final disposal has to be pursued. 
An important part of the budget 2014-2020 will cover the financial
contribution of JRC-Karlsruhe to the construction of the German repository. After
the construction, the expenditures will be reduced and will relate to the costs
for operation, and finally, for the closure and long-term safety of the
repository. The uncertainties related to these expenditures make it difficult
to plan the budget on a yearly basis.
Action JRC: JRC-Karlsruhe will investigate whether the planning for
the financing of the repository fees can be improved.
5.3.        JRC-Petten (the Netherlands)
The decommissioning plan for the high flux reactor in Petten
(prepared in 2005) has been updated and assessed with more detail in 2011. The
planning foresees:
–                        
preliminary waste evacuation before shutdown and
administrative preparation work;
–                        
after the shutdown a transition phase which
would take about 3,5 years to allow the cooling and removal of the fuel;
–                        
the effective dismantling phase.
The current reference for the shutdown is 2021, although this date
is only used for planning reasons. The effective closure is not confirmed yet
and depends mainly on the schedule for the construction of a new reactor for
medical isotope production (the “PALLAS” reactor).
JRC-Petten
budget 2014-2020 and beyond 2020 (see ANNEX 1)
The 2012 budget update takes into account the calculations of the
revised decommissioning plan. The re-evaluation leads
to an increase of the total budget estimate for the decommissioning of the high
flux reactor (HFR) by about 20% to 72,6 M€2012. This increase can be
explained by the more comprehensive assessment undertaken by JRC-Petten, with
due consideration of all overhead costs during the decommissioning phase. 
The estimate does not include uncertainties related
to:
–                        
the ensuring
of the safe conservation of the HFR during the post operational phase between
the shutdown of the reactor and the transfer of the license,
–                        
the later demolition of the buildings and remediation
of the site,
which could have an impact on the overall JRC budget. There are also
no major provisions taken in the total budget to compensate for possible delays
or unknowns.
In the budget forecast from 2008, an assumption was made for the
start of the decommissioning of the HFR and 2015 was taken as reference date
(working hypothesis). In the current update this reference date is shifted to
2021. This explains the budget shift for the period 2014-2020 mainly to the
period after 2020. Some preliminary expenditure is however foreseen in
anticipation of the shutdown of the reactor, mainly for the radiological
characterisation in view of the future decommissioning. 
As the date for the final shutdown is not fixed yet, an anticipation
or delay will have an inevitable impact on the budget breakdown as currently
planned.
As mentioned in section 3.3, the supplementary programme contributes
to a dedicated decommissioning fund for the HFR. The contribution is fixed at
minimum 800 k€ per year and end of 2011, the total amount on this fund reached
13,9 M€. 
JRC-Petten
programme: identified issues and actions
The uncertainties on the JRC-Petten programme and the actions taken
to mitigate them can be summarised as follows:
–                        
After the future shutdown of the reactor, it is
foreseen that at the end of a transition phase the license will be transferred from
NRG back to the European Commission. It is important that the liabilities of
both parties, European Commission and NRG and the conditions for acceptance of
the plant at the transfer of the license are clearly defined. 
–                        
The site agreement between the Community and the
Dutch Government foresees in a restitution of the plant by the European
Commission to the situation it had been when handed over. This means that there
is no explicit mention on which party will take the responsibility for the demolition
and site remediation.
JRC action: the JRC will further investigate and map the possible
consequences linked to the situation of the plant at its shutdown as well as at
the end of its decommissioning. JRC will seek to elaborate formal agreements
with the involved parties.
5.4.        JRC-Geel (Belgium) 
JRC-Geel has updated the overall decommissioning plan for its nuclear
facilities. The plan is based on a detailed physical inventory and includes an
estimate of the planned decommissioning activities,
amount and type of material and waste produced including the respective costs.
The IRMM has also elaborated a global site
development plan, which describes the future refurbishments and constructions.
According to this plan, a new modernised nuclear building will be constructed
(estimated investment: 10 M€). The facility will take over the activities of
the oldest facility on the site, and will allow performing nuclear reference
measurements and producing reference materials following the most advanced
safety standards. 
JRC-Geel budget 2014-2020 and beyond 2020
The 2012 budget update takes into account the calculations of the
revised decommissioning plan. Once the new nuclear facility will be built, it is
foreseen to decommission the old facility, which should start from 2020 on.
For the period after 2020, an extra provision is
foreseen for the future decommissioning of the new nuclear facility (estimated
decommissioning cost: 3,4 M€). This explains the
increase of the total budget by 8,6% to 42,8 M€2012. 
This total budget is a best estimate and there are no major
provisions taken to compensate for possible delays or unknowns.
5.5.        Consolidated budget for all JRC sites
Based on the cost estimates as established for the four JRC sites,
the consolidated total JRC budget for the remaining DWM programme has been
calculated (see ANNEX 1). 
The consolidated table shows a total remaining budget estimate of 989,2
M€2012. In comparison with the last Communication, the estimate has
increased by 6% (net increase above the inflation). As explained above, the increase
is mainly the consequence of the extended safe conservation costs due to the postponement
of projects at JRC-Ispra. 
Considering solely the period 2014-2020,
the available budget of 212,1 M€2012 (or 234,3 M€ in current prices)
is significantly lower than forecasted in 2008 and as said above, the final
agreed figure may be lower, depending on the final outcome of the negotiations
on the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2014-2020.
5.6.        External Review
Currently a ‘Group of Independent Experts’ in the field of
decommissioning and waste treatment advises the JRC on the management of its DWM
programme. It consists of European experts originating from different Member States and meets twice a year. 
A team of three international experts originating from this Group of
Independent Experts performed a review between April 2011 and April 2012. The four
involved JRC sites reported their main achievements and updated re-evaluations
for the future of the programme. Based on the review, the experts formulated a
series observations and recommendations. The review report concludes:
“At the request of the JRC, the decommissioning and waste
management programme of the four nuclear sites has been reviewed by three
external experts from the JRC D&WM Independent Expert Group.
An assessment was made of the current activities and the future
decommissioning plans, including the completeness, coherence and the
feasibility of the various projects as well as of the forecasted budgets and
the reasons for deviations with previous estimates, as presented in the earlier
Communications. 
The experts found overall evidences that the activities on the
different sites are on track, despite some delays, and that the plans and cost
estimates for future decommissioning are established in a coherent way,
although several recommendations for improvements were formulated, mainly based
on the international experience in the field. 
The experts draw the attention that the budget figures are in many
cases based on best estimated assumptions, with no or only few provisions to
cover the uncertainties. This is in particular the case for the projects planned
in the longer term (after 2020). 
The experts took note that an agreement was signed with the Italian
Government which reduces significantly the risks for the Ispra site in relation
to the shared historical liabilities and in relation to the future evacuation
of the waste from the site and the waste acceptance criteria, but that it was
fundamental that this agreement is also executed.
The experts took also note that the plan for the future
decommissioning of the high flux reactor on the Petten site has been re-evaluated
more extensively and more in detail, although the date for the permanent
shutdown and subsequent decommissioning of the reactor is not fixed yet. The
experts encourage that the necessary steps are taken to clarify the liabilities
of the involved parties and to fix the conditions of acceptance of the reactor
at the start and at the end of the future decommissioning.
As a general remark for this review, the experts emphasise the
importance of assessing in detail the expected waste that will be produced
during the decommissioning and further investigating the managerial and
technical measures which should be taken to limit their volumes. This will at
least reduce the pending uncertainties in relation to the costs of their future
disposal.” 
The outcome of the
review has been taken into consideration in the updated planning as presented
here above; mitigating or remedial actions have been defined (sections
4.1-4.5).
6.           Information
of the JRC's Board of Governors 
The Board of Governors has been informed
about the proposed Communication of the Commission to the Council and
Parliament on the progress of the JRC decommissioning and waste management
programme. In this context the Board of Governors:
–                        
expressed its fully support for the efforts of
the Commission to implement the highest level of safety and security in its
various JRC nuclear sites (Ispra, Karlsruhe, Petten and Geel);
–                        
invited the relevant authorities of the Member
States to take all necessary measures and decisions within their respective
competence areas to facilitate, particularly as far as the Ispra Settlement
Agreement is concerned, the process of nuclear decommissioning on JRC nuclear
sites which is a long-term process but which should not be delayed;
–       
invited the JRC to present a progress report on
decommissioning every two years. 
7.           Conclusions
Significant progress has been made with the implementation of the
JRC DWM programme since the last Communication issued in 2009. The main
attention was given to JRC-Ispra, with the finalisation of the decommissioning
of a first large installation, the removal of waste and nuclear materials, the launch
of several waste characterisation facilities and the start of the construction
of the interim storage facility.
The risk mitigation strategy has provided several improvements
related to the internal organisation as well as the signature, on 27 November
2009, of a Settlement Agreement between the European
Atomic Energy Community and the Italian Government on the Ispra site.
JRC is undertaking actions to contain the remaining constraints
which are mainly linked to the schedule for the
execution of the Settlement Agreement, the delays caused by the complex
authorisation process at JRC-Ispra, the expected waste
that will be produced on the different sites and to the costs for their final
disposal and related to the transfer conditions of the JRC-Petten high flux
reactor after its later shutdown.
Based on the updated evaluation of the programme, the consolidated
estimate for the whole JRC DWM programme after 2013 amounts to 989,2 M€2012.

The decommissioning
strategies and the evolution of the expenditures are monitored on a continuous
basis by the JRC DWM Steering Committee and submitted to a periodic expert
review.
Council Directive
2011/70/Euratom of 19 July 2011 establishing a Community framework for the
responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste obliges
Member States to establish and notify to the Commission by August 2015 national
programmes for the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste under their
jurisdiction, from generation to disposal. JRC is of the opinion that
establishing national programmes will contribute to reducing uncertainties in
respect to waste acceptance
criteria and cost estimation.
ANNEX
1: Costs and Schedule of the Programme
   || JRC-Ispra || JRC-Karlsruhe || JRC-Petten || JRC-Geel || Total JRC 
   || forecasted in 2008 || 2012 update || forecasted in 2008 || 2012 update || forecasted in 2008 || 2012 update || forecasted in 2008 || 2012 update || forecasted in 2008 || 2012 update || 2012 *update 
 Year || (M€2012) || (M€2012) || (M€2012) || (M€2012) || (M€2012) || (M€2012) || (M€2012) || (M€2012) || (M€2012) || (M€2012) || (current M€) 
 2014 || 35,1 || 23,9 || 5,4 || 5,9 ||   || 0,5 ||   ||   || 40,5 || 30,3 || 31,5 
 2015 || 39,5 || 24,1 || 5,4 || 6,0 || 6,1 ||  0,2 ||   ||   || 51,0 || 30,3 || 32,2 
 2016 || 34,9 || 24,5 || 5,4 || 5,8 || 6,1 ||   ||   ||   || 46,4 || 30,3 || 32,8 
 2017 || 37,2 || 25,1 || 5,4 || 5,2 || 9,1 ||   ||   ||   || 51,7 || 30,3 || 33,4 
 2018 || 27,7 || 25,3 || 5,4 || 5,0 || 9,1 ||   ||   ||   || 42,2 || 30,3 || 34,1 
 2019 || 47,5 || 25,3 || 5,4 || 5,0 || 9,1 ||   ||   ||   || 62,0 || 30,3 || 34,8 
 2020 || 57,9 || 24,7 || 4,6 || 5,0 || 9,1 || 0,2 ||   || 0,4 || 71,6 || 30,3 || 35,5 
 Total 2014-2020 || 279,8 || 172,09 || 37,0 || 37,9 || 48,06 || 0,9 ||   || 0,4 || 365,4 || 212,1 || 234,3 
 After 2020 || 188,5 || 332,7 || 331,2 || 330,3 || 12,1 || 71,7 || 39,4 || 42,4 || 571,2 || 777,1 ||   
 Total (> 2013) || 468,3 || 505,6 || 368,2 || 368,2 || 60,7 || 72,6 || 39,4 || 42,8 || 936,6 || 989,2 ||   
* The final agreed figure may be lower depending on the final outcome of
the negotiations on the MFF 2014-2020.
The updated Communication on the costs of the Programme will be
presented to the European Parliament and to the Council after the final adoption
of MFF 2014-2020 package. 
[1]               Communication from the Commission to the Council and
the European Parliament - Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and
Management of Radioactive Waste: Management of Nuclear Liabilities arising out
of the Activities of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) carried out under the
Euratom Treaty - COM(2008)903 final, 12.01.2009.
[2]               Communication from the Commission to the Council and
the European Parliament - Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and
Management of Radioactive Waste: Management of Nuclear Liabilities arising out
of the Activities of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) carried out under the
Euratom Treaty - COM(2008)903 final, 12.01.2009.
[3]               This
means to maintain shutdown installations in a safe and secure condition, to
respond to the ageing of installations or changes in national and international
safety rules; it precedes the decommissioning of the installations.