National report for the
Council Directive
2011/70/EURATOM
establishing a Community framework for the responsible
and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste
The Netherlands, 2018

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National report of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the Council Directive 2011/70/EURATOM, 2018

Contents

LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

6

SUMMARY

9

A. INTRODUCTION
Purpose of the national report
Relationship between this national report and the report to the Joint
Convention
National nuclear programme
Sources of spent fuel and radioactive waste in the Netherlands
The policy in respect of the safe management of spent fuel and
radioactive waste
The practice of the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste in
the Netherlands and the implementing organisations
The competent regulatory authority or ‘Regulatory Body’ involved in the
responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste in
the Netherlands
Overview matrix of liabilities and current policies and practices
Procedure for establishment of the national report

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B. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

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C. SCOPE AND INVENTORY (ARTICLE 2,
ARTICLE 12.1(c), ARTICLE 14.2(b)
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12.1.c Inventory of spent fuel and radioactive waste in the Netherlands 22
Classification of spent fuel and radioactive waste
22
Spent fuel management facilities
23
Inventory of spent fuel
23
Radioactive waste management facilities
23
Inventory of radioactive waste
24
Nuclear facilities in the process of being decommissioned
24
14.2.b Future prospects of inventory of radioactive waste and spent fuel 25
D. GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES (ARTICLE 4)
4.1/4.2 Statements about the national policy of the Netherlands in
relation to Article 4 of the Directive
Political decisions in relation to Article 4 of the Directive, that form the
basis for the national policy
4.3 Summary of implementation of policy principles
4.3.a Minimization of radioactive waste

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4.3.b Interdependencies in spent fuel and radioactive waste generation
and management
4.3.c Safe Management in the long term, passive safety features
4.3.d Graded approach
4.3.e Costs for the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste:
polluter pays
4.3.f Evidence-based and documented decision-making processes
4.4 Transboundary movement

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E. NATIONAL FRAMEWORK (ARTICLE 5)
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5.0 Overview of national legislative framework
33
Simplified representation of the hierarchy of the legal framework for
applications of nuclear technology
33
Legal framework within which the RB functions
35
Primary legislative framework: acts
35
Secondary regulatory framework: Governmental Decrees, subordinate
to the Nuclear Energy Act
37
National safety requirements and regulations for radiation safety
40
5.1 Member states shall establish a national legislative, regulatory and
organization framework (national framework)
42
5.1.a National programme for the implementation of the policy on the
management of spent fuel and radioactive waste – provisions in a legal
Framework
42
5.1.b National arrangements for the safety of the management of spent fuel
and radioactive waste
43
5.1.c A system of licensing of spent fuel and radioactive waste management
Activities
43
5.1.d System of inspections, audits, assessments and evaluation
46
5.1.e Institutional control, regulatory inspection and documentation and
reporting
46
5.1.f A clear allocation of responsibilities of the bodies involved in the
different steps of spent fuel and of radioactive waste management
47
5.1.g National requirements for public information and participation
48
5.1.h Financing schemes for the management of spent fuel and radioactive
waste – legal framework
48
5.2 Improvement of the national framework
48
Operational experience, national and international
48
Documented decision-making processes
49
Technological developments and results of relevant research
49
Results of self-assessments and Peer Reviews
49
F. COMPETENT REGULATORY AUTHORITY (ARTICLE 6)
6.1 Competent regulatory authority – ANVS
Collaboration agreement
Advisory Board
6.2 Independency of the Regulatory Body regarding energy policy

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6.3 Expertise and skills in nuclear safety & radiation protection at the RB
Financial & Human Resources
Legal Powers

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G. LICENSE HOLDERS (ARTICLE 7)
7.1 Prime responsibility for safe management of spent fuel and radioactive
waste
7.2 Safety assessment
Updated assessments before operation
Safety assessments of future facilities
7.3 Demonstration of the safety of a facility or activity during the
entire lifecycle
7.4 Integrated Management System and quality assurance
General
License COVRA
7.5 Adequate financial and human resources at license holder
Financial resources
Human resources

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H. EXPERTISE & SKILLS (ARTICLE 8)
Expertise and skills in nuclear safety & radiation protection at the RB
Expertise and skills of the licence holders
Research and development activities – OPERA

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I. FINANCIAL RESOURCES (ARTICLE 9)
9. Adequate financial resources
One disposal facility

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J. TRANSPARENCY (ARTICLE 10)
10.1 Provision of information to the public and employees
General obligations
Communication strategy of the competent regulatory authority
10.2 Participation by the public in decision making

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K. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL PROGRAMME
(ARTICLES 11 AND 12)
11.1 Implementation National Programme
11.2 Update National Programme
12. Contents of the national programme
12.1.a The overall objectives of the Member States’ national policy in respect
of radioactive waste and spent fuel management
12.1.b The most significant milestones and clear timetables for the
achievement of those milestones in light of the overarching objectives of the
national programmes

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12.1.c An inventory of all spent fuel and radioactive waste and estimates or
future quantities, including those from decommissioning, clearly indicating
the location and amount of the radioactive waste and spent fuel in accordance
with appropriate he radioactive waste
12.1.d The concepts, plans and technical solutions for spent fuel and
radioactive waste management, from generation to disposal
12.1.e The concepts or plans for the post-closure period of a disposal
facility’s lifetime, including the period during which appropriate controls
are retained and the means to be employed to preserve knowledge of
that facility in the longer term
12.1.f The research, development and demonstration activities that are
needed in order to implement solutions for the management of spent fuel
and radioactive waste
12.1.g The responsibility for the implementation of the national
Programme and the key performance indicators to monitor progress towards
Implementation
12.1.h An assessment of the national programme costs and the underlying basis
and hypotheses for the assessment, which must include a profile over time
12.1.i The financing scheme(s) in force
12.1.j A transparency policy or process as referred to in Article 10
12.1.k If any, the agreement(s) concluded with a Member State or a third
country on management of spent fuel or radioactive waste, including on the
use of disposal facilities

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L. PEER REVIEWS AND SELF-ASSESMENTS (ARTICLE 14.3)
14.3 Results of self-assessments and Peer Reviews
Competent regulatory authority
License holders of nuclear facilities
Peer review Joint Convention (May 2018)

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M. FUTURE PLANS TO IMPROVE SAFE AND RESPONSIBLE
MANAGEMENT OF SPENT FUEL AND RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Research
Public participation
Action points/milestones as mentioned in nationale programme

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ANNEX
1. Overview matrix of liabilities and current policies and practices
2. Safety demonstration HABOG facility at COVRA

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List of symbols and abbreviations

Acronym
ANVS

Full term
Autoriteit Nucleaire
Veiligheid en Stralingsbescherming

Translation or explanation
Authority for Nuclear Safety
and Radiation Protection

Awb

Algemene wet bestuursrecht

General Administrative Act

Bkse

Besluit kerninstallaties, splijtstoffen
ertsen

Nuclear Installations, Fissionable en
Materials and Ores Decree

Bbs

Besluit basisveiligheidsnormen
stralingsbescherming

Decree on Basic Safety
Standards Radiation Protection

Bvse

Besluit vervoer splijtstoffen, ertsen en
radioactieve stoffen

Transport of Fissionable Materials,
Ores, and Radioactive Substance
Decree

BZ

(Ministerie van) Buitenlandse Zaken

(Ministry of) Foreign Affairs

COVRA

Centrale Organisatie Voor Radioactief
Afval

Central Organisation for
Radioactive Waste

ECN

Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland

Netherlands Energy Research
Foundation

EIA

Environmental Impact Assessment

EZ

(Ministerie van) Economische Zaken

EPZ

N.V. Elektriciteits-Produktiemaatschappij (Operator of Borssele NPP)
Zuid-Nederland

GKN

Gemeenschappelijke
Kernenergiecentrale Nederland

GRS

Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und
Reaktorsicherheit

HABOG

Hoogradioactief AfvalBehandelings- en
Opslag Gebouw

High-level Waste Treatment and
Storage Building

HFR

Hoge Flux Reactor

High Flux Reactor (Research
Reactor of JRC at Petten)

HLW

High-Level Waste

HOR

Hoger Onderwijs Reactor

IAEA

International Atomic Energy Agency

(Ministry of) Economic Affairs

(Operator of Dodewaard NPP)

(Research reactor at the Technical
University Delft)

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I&W

(Ministerie van) Infrastructuur en
Waterstaat

(Ministry) of Infrastructure and
Water Management

ILT

‘Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport’

Inspectorate of the Ministry of I&W

IRRS

Integrated Regulatory Review Service

ISO

International Standards Organisation

JRC

Joint Research Centre of the European
Commission

Kew

Kernenergiewet

Nuclear Energy Act

LFR

Lage Flux Reactor

Low Flux Reactor

LH

Licence Holder

LILW

Low- and Intermediate-Level Waste

LOG

Laagradioactief afval Opslag Gebouw

MOX

Mengoxide Mixed Oxide

NCC

Nationaal Crisis Centrum

National Crisis Centre

NCS

Nationaal Crisisplan
Stralingsincidenten

National crisis response plan
radiological incidents

NORM

Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material

NPP

Nuclear Power Plant

NRG

Nuclear Research & consultancy Group

NVR

Nucleaire VeiligheidsRegels

Nuclear safety rules
(the Netherlands)

OPERA

OnderzoeksProgramma Eindberging
Radioactief Afval

National Geological Disposal
Research Programme

QA

Quality Assurance

RB

Regulatory Body

RID

Reactor Institute Delft

(Operator of the HOR research
reactor in Delft)

RIVM

Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en
Milieu

National Institute of Public Health
and the Environment

RR

Research Reactor

SAR

Safety Analysis Report

Low-level Waste Storage Building

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SF

Spent Fuel

SZW

(Ministerie van) Sociale Zaken en
Werkgelegenheid

(Ministry of) Social Affairs and
Employment

VOG

Verarmd uranium Opslag Gebouw

Storage Building for Depleted
Uranium

Wm

Wet Milieubeheer

Environmental Protection Act

WSF

Waste Storage Facility

Waste storage building for legacy
waste in Petten

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Summary

Article 14.1 of Council Directive 2011/70/EURATOM, establishing a community
framework for the safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, requires
Member States to report in a three-year cycle on how they have implemented the
obligations of the Directive. This national report of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
for the Directive shows how the Netherlands meets the obligations of each of the
articles of the Directive and presents the progress in the last three years. The report is
the second in its series and has been published in English only.
The Netherlands submitted its national programme on the management of
radioactive waste and spent fuel to the Commission in June 2016 1. The present
national report refers in various sections to the national programme as well as to the
National Report of the Netherlands for the Sixth Review Meeting of the Joint
Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive
Waste Management (October 2017) 2.
This second report has been drafted in line with the guidance provided by the
European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) in their document ‘Guidelines
for Member States reporting on Article 14.1 of Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom’.
As a result, most of the content of the abovementioned National Report for the Joint
Convention has been reused in this report.
National framework

The Netherlands has established and maintains a national legislative, regulatory and
organisational framework (‘national framework’) for spent fuel and radioactive waste
management, which is part of the framework for nuclear safety and radiation
protection. The competent regulatory body (RB) for this framework is the Authority
for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ANVS) 3. The ANVS is independent in its
regulatory activities on radiation protection, nuclear safety and security in the
Netherlands, but the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management is politically
responsible for its functioning.
The Netherlands has transposed Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom, laying down
basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to
radiation, in its national legislation. On 6 February 2018, the Decree on Basic Safety
Standards for Radiation Protection and its underlying regulations have come into
force. Parts of the directive and its implementation deal with waste and related
subjects. The implementation lead to the introduction of a situation based approach
(planned, emergency and existing situations). Another change was the introduction of
“registration” as one of the two instruments to authorise practices. Licensing is the
other instrument. This Decree also regulates the management of waste and orphan
sources as well as requirements for the recycling or disposal of unsealed or sealed
sources that are no longer used.
https://english.autoriteitnvs.nl/documents/report/2016/08/09/the-national-programme-for-themanagement-of-radioactive-waste-and-spent-fuel
2
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/rapporten/2017/10/12/rapportage-joint-convention-on-thesafety-of-spent-fuel-management-and-on-the-safety-of-radioactive-waste-management
3
Autoriteit Nucleaire Veiligheid en Stralingsbescherming, ANVS
1

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Regulatory body

The ANVS attained its formal status of an independent administrative body (ZBO) on
August 1st 2017 with the necessary amendment of the Nuclear Energy Act and
subordinate regulation.
In addition to day-to-day contacts between the entities of the RB, a Cooperation
Agreement for Radiation Protection was set up in 2017 and signed by the ANVS and
the policy departments and inspectorates of other ministries, which have tasks under
the Nuclear Energy Act and so are part of the RB. The cooperation agreement
describes the interaction, communication and cooperation between different parts of
the RB.
The ANVS appointed an Advisory Board on 17 April 2018. The board has the task of
providing the ANVS with solicited and unsolicited advice on matters related to the
tasks of the ANVS.
Policy on radioactive waste and spent fuel

The prime responsibility for the safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste
rests with the waste producers (i.e. license holders). Dutch radioactive waste
management policy aims at minimisation of waste production. Prevention, reuse and
use of radioactive decay are important elements of this policy.
The radioactive waste policy should not put any unreasonable burden on future
generations. The generations that have benefitted from certain application of
radioactivity shall also bear the associated costs of the management of the radioactive
waste. (i.e. ‘polluter pays’). This principle will be fulfilled by the charges that COVRA
assesses to waste producers to cover all costs for processing, storage and disposal.
Costs are estimated on the basis of the state of the art of the knowledge.
In addition, with the implementation of the Directive 2013/59/Euratom, the
obligation has been introduced to set off the research costs into radioactive waste
management, in the charges imposed by COVRA. Following delivery and payment, in
return the legal ownership of the waste and the related (financial) risks are
transferred to COVRA. This way no (perpetual) claims remain on companies whose
long-term existence is uncertain.
COVRA
Waste management shall be safe now and in the future. In the Netherlands, COVRA
is the central organisation for the management of all spent fuel and radioactive

waste. Every company in the Netherlands must hand over their radioactive waste to
COVRA. NORM waste with an activity concentration up to ten times the clearance
levels need not be entrusted to COVRA, but is safely managed as very low level waste
at two designated landfills. At COVRA long-term above-ground storage is available in
specially designed dedicated buildings. These buildings, and the waste packages, were
designed upfront for long-term storage (100 – 300 years). So during storage at
COVRA the waste is managed safely. Geological disposal is foreseen in 2130.
Since the first report, COVRA completed a new storage building for depleted uranium
(VOG-2). The interim storage facility of COVRA for high-level waste (HABOG) is
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currently being extended. In June 2018, concrete work for the ground floor has
started. Completion of the project as a whole is expected by mid-2021.
COVRA used to offer the possibility to license holders to store materials, that need a
period longer than two years to decay below clearance levels (decay storage), at
COVRA’s site for a time period of 25 years with the intend to reuse it, or to release the
decayed materials as conventional waste. Now, this period has been extended to 50
years, as 25 years appeared to be too short to release the radioactive materials from
regulatory control.
Historical waste Research Location Petten

Due to past practices, some historical waste is still stored at the Research Location
Petten. Currently, the Dutch government is stimulating the transfer of this historical
waste from Research Location Petten to COVRA by the following means; the
appointment of an official for stimulating cooperation and chain optimization
between involved parties, installation of a steering group of Director-generals of the
involved ministerial departments, and provision of additional governmental resources
(117 million euro in 2018). More information on this topic can be found in Section A.
Route to geological disposal

After long-term storage at COVRA, geological disposal is envisaged around 2130.
During the operational period of the disposal facility the waste shall be retrievable. It
will be important to assess the optimum period of retrievability in due time, in order
to benefit from both the advantages of retrievability and the advantages of a passive,
safe (closed) disposal facility.
In January 2018, the results of the Research Programme on Disposal of Radioactive
Waste (OPERA) were presented to the public; an initial safety case for geological
disposal in Boom clay in the Netherlands and its costs.
After an exploratory phase into the role, goals and agenda of a Disposal Advisory
Platform (DAP), the preparations for the establishment of this platform have started.
The DAP will be responsible for advising on future decision-making and participation
processes in radioactive waste management during the route to final disposal.
Dual strategy

To achieve actual disposal, both a national and an international line are being
followed (‘dual strategy’). Within this strategy, a national route towards disposal will
be elaborated. At the same time the possibility of international collaboration
regarding radioactive waste management with other countries will not be excluded.
The dual strategy makes it possible to respond appropriately to possible international
initiatives regarding management of radioactive waste.

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A. Introduction

This introduction explains the purpose of the present report: ‘National report of the
Kingdom of the Netherland for the Council Directive 2011/70/EURATOM’. It gives an
overview of current and potential sources of spent fuel and radioactive waste. It
provides a description of which Competent Authorities and implementing
organisations are involved in the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and
radioactive waste.
Purpose of the national rapport

The national rapport demonstrates how the Kingdom of the Netherlands (further: the
Netherlands) complies with the obligations arising from Article 14 of the Council
Directive 2011/70/EURATOM. Article 14.1 of the Directive obliges the Member States
to submit a report to the European Commission on a three-yearly cycle on how they
have implemented the obligations of the directive. This report is the second in the
series of reports for the Directive.
This report was drawn up using the guidelines 4 of the ‘European Nuclear Safety
Regulators Group’ (ENSREG). References to radioactive waste in this report also
include spent fuel, unless stated otherwise.
Relationship between this national report 5 and the report to the Joint
Convention 6

Article 14.1 directs Member States to take advantage of reporting under the Joint
Convention on the Safety of Spent Nuclear Fuel Management and on the Safety of
Radioactive Waste Management (JC) (i.e. in regards to optimising the use of resources
and to providing coherent information) to assist them in preparing their National
Report. Although they have different addressees and some differences in scope, the
Directive and JC have the same overall objective of the safe management of spent fuel
and radioactive waste.
Therefore, this national report contains information that is taken directly from the JC
report. However, Member States have obligations under the Directive to fulfil certain
requirements that are not covered in the JC report. Consequently, up-to-date
information is added where needed in order to fully report on the progress that has
been made in the field of responsible and safe management of spent fuel and
radioactive waste.
National nuclear programme

In the Netherlands there is one nuclear power plant (NPP) in operation: the
Pressurized Water Reactor (Siemens/KWU design, net electrical output 485 MWe) in

http://www.ensreg.eu/sites/default/files/attachments/guidelines_for_reporting_on_directive_2011-70euratom.pdf
5
All national reports can be found at the website of the ANVS, http://www.anvs.nl
6
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/rapporten/2017/10/12/rapportage-joint-convention-on-thesafety-of-spent-fuel-management-and-on-the-safety-of-radioactive-waste-management
4

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Borssele, operated by N. V. Elektriciteits-Produktiemaatschappij Zuid-Nederland (EPZ).
The other NPP, the Boiling Water Reactor (GE design, 60 MWe)in Dodewaard,
operated by Gemeenschappelijke Kerncentrale Nederland (GKN), was shut down in
1997 and is now in ‘Safe Enclosure’, a stage of decommissioning until 2045.

Figure 1: Locations of nuclear installations in the Netherlands

Furthermore, there are two research reactors in operation: the High Flux Reactor
(HFR, 45 MWth) of the EU Joint Research Centre (JRC), operated by the Nuclear
Research & consultancy Group (NRG), and the Hoger Onderwijs Reactor (HOR, 2
MWth) at the Reactor Institute Delft (RID), of the Delft University of Technology. The
Low Flux Reactor (LFR, 30 kWth) on the Research Location Petten was taken out of
operation in 2010. Its decommissioning is ongoing and spent fuel has been removed.
The facilities for uranium enrichment of Urenco Netherlands are located in Almelo.
Licensed capacity is currently 6200 tSW/a.
The facilities of the Central Organisation for Radioactive Waste (COVRA), the national
Waste Management Organisation (WMO), are located at one site in Nieuwdorp.
COVRA has facilities for the interim storage of low-, intermediate- and high-level
waste. The high-level waste category includes spent fuel of research reactors, waste
from molybdenum production and waste from reprocessing of spent fuel of NPPs.
COVRA also manages radioactive waste from non-nuclear origin.

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Details on the national nuclear programme of the Netherlands can be found in the
national report for the CNS 7.
Sources of spent fuel and radioactive waste in the Netherlands

The spent fuel and radioactive waste are generated by various license holders. All
companies in the Netherlands that hold a license on the basis of the nuclear energy
act are required to tender their radioactive waste to COVRA. The waste produced can
be divided into six sectors: nuclear, industry, medical, NORM industry, research and
miscellaneous. All licensees in the Netherlands are required to offer their radioactive
waste to COVRA. NORM waste with an activity concentration of up to ten times higher
than the clearance levels (95 volume% of the Dutch radioactive waste), need not be
entrusted to COVRA but is safely managed as very low level waste at two licensed
designated landfills.
An inventory of SF and radioactive waste can be found in section C.
The policy in respect of the safe management of spent fuel and radioactive
waste

The policy is comprehensively set out in the National Programme, and briefly
summarized below.
Policy on radioactive waste and spent fuel and links to other policy fields
The policy on radioactive waste and spent fuel is part of the policy on radiation
protection, which protects individuals, society and the environment against the risks
of exposure to ionising radiation. Exposure to radiation must be justified, as low as
reasonably achievable (ALARA) and must remain within specified thresholds. Anyone
using ionising radiation bears prime responsibility for its use. The same principles are
applied to the management of radioactive waste.
The policy applies a graded approach; the greater the risk, the stricter the regime. For
example, the requirements imposed on activities involving spent fuel are stricter than
for activities involving other radioactive substances.
The policy on radioactive waste ties in with the policy for conventional waste. The
policy strives to close raw materials cycles as far as possible, with priority to be given
to the most environmentally friendly processing methods. In the policy on radioactive
waste, the same preferred order for processing is assumed as for conventional waste:
prevention, reuse, and finally safe management of remaining waste substances.
Furthermore, as with management of conventional waste, the IBC-principle 8 is applied
to the management of radioactive waste: isolate, manage and control.

National report for the Convention on Nuclear Safety, 7th Review Meeting – 2017, available at:
https://www.autoriteitnvs.nl/documenten/rapporten/2017/04/25/convention-on-nuclear-safety-7threview-meeting-%E2%80%93-2017
8
IBC, Dutch acronym meaning: ‘Isoleren, Beheren en Controleren, i.e. isolate, manage and control.
7

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Policy principles for the management of radioactive waste and spent fuel
• The policy is aimed at minimising the waste flows. Prevention of waste
production, reuse and using radioactive decay are successful policy
instruments. The prices set by COVRA for all types of radioactive waste tie in
with this policy, and help to make it a success.
• Safe management now and in the future is a key element. During
aboveground storage at COVRA, the waste is safely managed. Around 2130
geological disposal is envisaged. The design of the disposal facility must allow
the possibility of retrieval of the waste (via the existing shaft) during the
operation of the disposal facility. In consultation with society, it will be
important to assess the optimum period of retrievability in due time.
• No unreasonable burdens on the shoulders of future generations.
Generations that have profited from a specific application of radioactivity,
such as nuclear power or medical isotopes, must themselves bear the
burdens for the costs of managing the waste produced in those activities.
• Causers of radioactive waste bear the costs for the management of the
waste. In respect of all costs involved in the management of the radioactive
waste the ‘polluter pays’ principle will apply.
Policy on reprocessing of spent fuel
Government policy in respect of the reprocessing of SF in principle leaves the choice
on whether or not to reprocess to the operator of the nuclear power plant.
Policy on long-term management of radioactive waste and spent fuel
The current policy assumes long-term storage of the radioactive waste and spent fuel
in specially designed buildings (at COVRA) till 2130. During this period the deep
geological disposal is prepared financially, technically and socially in such a way that
the disposal facility will be ready to receive radioactive waste around 2130. A decision
on disposal will be made around 2100. Up to that moment, society may also opt for
another management option, depending on insights at that moment, and assuming
that other alternatives are possible at that time.
To achieve actual disposal, both a national and an international line are being
followed (‘dual strategy’). Within this strategy, a national route towards disposal will
be elaborated. At the same time the possibility of international collaboration
regarding radioactive waste management with other countries will not be excluded.
The dual strategy makes it possible to respond appropriately to possible international
initiatives regarding management of radioactive waste.
The practice of the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste in the
Netherlands and the implementing organisations

Current practice on reprocessing
The choice whether or not to reprocess spent fuel is left to the operator. The
operators of the two NPPs Dodewaard and Borssele decided in favor of reprocessing.
In 2012, the Republic of France and the Netherlands signed a treaty that regulates the
reception and reprocessing of Dutch spent fuel from the Borssele NPP by Areva (now:
ORANO) in France, and the return to the Netherlands of the radioactive residues from
reprocessing before 31 December 2052.
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The operator of the Borssele NPP has arranged for the recycling of its reprocessing
products (uranium, plutonium), and has been granted a license for the use of MOX
mid-2011. Regarding the products of past Dodewaard fuel reprocessing, the uranium
was sold to a European NPP, while the plutonium stored at La Hague was sold to
ORANO, a fuel fabricating company for fabricating MOX fuel. Plutonium stored at
Sellafield was sold to NDA.
On February 11, 2011, the government presented a position paper with the
preconditions for new nuclear energy to Parliament. In the paper it is stated that it is
an obligation for the LH of a nuclear power plant to evaluate their spent fuel
management strategy every 10 years. The central government does the same every
twenty years. Depending on these evaluations, a different strategy may subsequently
be imposed on the license holder.
Spent fuel from the research reactors is not reprocessed, but directly transported to
COVRA.
Current practice COVRA
The nuclear programme of the Netherlands is relatively small, but diverse. The total
quantities of spent fuel and radioactive waste are modest. By centralizing most of the
radioactive waste management activities in the Netherlands in one national WMO
(i.e. COVRA), and at one site, benefits of economies of scale are optimized. 100% of
the shares in COVRA are held by the State, and this aids to guarantee a system of
long-term institutional control.
Nuclear installations do not have their own (long-term) waste storage facilities. The
storage capacity at COVRA has been dimensioned to handle the expected Dutch
demand for storage capacity till at least the year 2130.
The COVRA site is approximately 25 hectares. On this site, COVRA has various waste
processing and storage facilities for radioactive waste and spent fuel. The ‘HABOG
facility’ was built for the storage of high level radioactive waste. The building is
resistant to the most extreme conceivable external occurrences. It is a modular
storage building with a passive cooling system. Currently extension of HABOG is
ongoing (planned to be operational in 2021), and a new storage building for depleted
uranium (VOG-2) at COVRA has been completed in 2017 (see section B for more
information).
COVRA offers the possibility to store materials that need a period longer than two
years to decay to below the clearance levels (decay storage). During a period of not
more than 50 years, without being processed, materials from the dismantling of large
fixed installations can be stored at COVRA as well. During decay storage, materials can
decay to below the release threshold, and then be safely released for reuse or
discharged to a conventional waste processor.
Another task of COVRA is to generate the funds to create capital provisions to cover
the cost for both long-term aboveground storage and for the implementation and
operation of (geological) disposal facility for the waste. The ‘polluter pays’ principle is
fulfilled by the fact that COVRA includes in its charges all estimated costs for
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processing, storage and disposal, on the basis of the state of the art at that time. In
the implementation of the Directive, the obligation has been introduced to set off the
research costs into radioactive waste management, in the charges imposed by
COVRA. Following delivery, the legal ownership of the waste and the related
(financial) risks are transferred to COVRA. This way no (perpetual) claims remain on
companies whose long-term existence is uncertain.
Current practice research on disposal
From 2011-2017 a research programme on feasibility of geological disposal in Boom
Clay in the Netherlands (OPERA) has been performed. This research programme
amounted a total of €10 million of which half is paid by the government and the other
half by the nuclear sector. COVRA coordinated OPERA. The results of OPERA were
presented to the public, in January 2018. More information on this is presented in
section H, article 8.c.
Historical waste at Research Location Petten
Originally the Dutch radioactive waste storage facility was located at the Research
Location Petten (1985 – 1992). This explains why a certain amount of historical, or
‘legacy’, radioactive waste is still stored at the Research Location Petten in the Waste
Storage Facility (WSF). Currently, the low-level waste-part of the legacy waste on this
site is being transferred to COVRA. For the intermediate and high-level waste, several
options for conditioning, repacking and transport to COVRA have been investigated.
The original aim was to transfer these wastes to COVRA before 2022. The latest
coordinated planning indicates that by the end of 2026 all legacy waste will be
removed from Petten for storage at COVRA. More information on recent
developments in this regard in section B.
The competent regulatory authority or ‘Regulatory Body’ involved in the
responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste in the
Netherlands

The ‘Regulatory Body’ (RB) is the authority designated by the government as having
legal authority for conducting the regulatory processes, including issuing
authorizations, supervision and enforcement. In 2015 the various entities that
formerly constituted the RB, have largely merged into the one entity, the Authority
for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ANVS). The ANVS brings together
expertise in the fields of nuclear safety and radiation protection, as well as security
and safeguards. On August 1st 2017, the ANVS attained the formal status of an
independent administrative body (ZBO), when the necessary amendment of the
Nuclear Energy Act and subordinate regulation took effect.
The ANVS brings together expertise in the fields of nuclear safety and radiation
protection, as well as security and safeguards. For each of these subjects, the ANVS is
focused on preparing policy, legislation and regulations, the awarding of licenses,
supervision and enforcement and (public) information. The ANVS contributes to
safety studies and ensures that the Netherlands is prepared for any radiation
incidents.

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The ANVS is independent in its regulatory activities on radiation protection, nuclear
safety and security in the Netherlands, but the Minister of Infrastructure and Water
Management is politically responsible for its functioning.
The tasks related to safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste are within
the scope of the ANVS. Therefore this report often will refer to the ANVS as the RB.
Overview matrix of liabilities and current policies and practices

An overview matrix providing the types of liabilities and the current policies and
practices for the Netherlands is presented in annex 1.
Procedure for establishment of the national report
This national report was drawn up by the ANVS.

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B. Recent developments - summary of major
developments since submission of the previous national
report

Regulatory framework

•

•

In August 2017, the Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection, the
ANVS, was legally established in an update of the Nuclear Energy Act (and
subordinate regulation) as an independent administrative authority (Dutch
acronym: ZBO). More information on this is available in section E, article 5.0.
The Netherlands has transposed Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom, laying
down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from
exposure to radiation, in its national legislation. On 6 February 2018, the
Decree on Basic Safety Standards for Radiation Protection (In Dutch: “Besluit
basisveiligheidsnormen stralingsbescherming”) and its underlying regulations
have come into force. More information on this is available in section E,
article 5.0.

Regulatory body

•
•

•

•

•
•

On August 1st 2017, the ANVS attained the formal status of an independent
administrative body (ZBO) with the necessary amendment of the Nuclear
Energy Act and subordinate regulation.
In addition to day-to-day contacts between the entities of the RB, a
Cooperation Agreement for Radiation Protection (signed in 2017) was set up
between the ANVS and the policy departments and inspectorates of other
ministries with tasks under the Nuclear Energy Act that are part of the RB.
The cooperation agreement describes the interaction, communication and
cooperation between different parts of the RB. More information on this is
available in section F, article 6.1.
After an exploratory phase into the role, goals and agenda of a Disposal
Advisory Platform (DAP), the preparations for the establishment of the DAP
have started. This group will be responsible for advising on future decisionmaking and participation processes in radioactive waste management during
the route to final disposal.
The ANVS appointed an Advisory Board on 17 April 2018. The board has the
task of providing the ANVS with solicited and unsolicited advice on matters
related to the tasks of the ANVS. More information on this is available in
section F, article 6.1.
The ANVS signed a cooperation protocol with Belgium’s regulatory body
‘FANC’ (2017). More information on this in section J, article 10.1.
The ANVS introduced a public portal on their website (2018), providing
information about what the government does, and what people can do
themselves, in the event of a nuclear crisis or a radiation accident. More
information on this in section J, article 10.1.

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COVRA
•
•

•

A new storage building for depleted uranium (VOG-2) at COVRA is completed.
Before the building was taken in operation, the building was the venue of the
2017 PIME 9 conference.
The interim storage facility of COVRA for high-level waste (HABOG) is
currently being extended. In June 2018, concrete work for the ground floor
has started. Completion of the construction is planned for the end of 2020.
This is followed by a test period by COVRA. Completion of the project as a
whole is expected by mid-2021.
COVRA used to offer the possibility to license holders to store materials, that
need a period longer than two years to decay below clearance levels (decay
storage), at their site for a time period of 25 years. Now, this period has been
extended to 50 years. More information on this in section K, article 12.1.g.

Historical waste Research Location Petten
•

The Dutch government has recently undertaken the following actions
regarding the ongoing transfer of historical waste from the Research Location
Petten to COVRA (see also section A): it has appointed an official for
stimulating cooperation and chain optimization between involved parties;
installed a steering group of Director Generals of involved ministerial
departments; and provided additional governmental resources (117 million
euro in 2018).

OPERA (Research Programme on disposal of radioactive waste)
•

9

The results of Research Programme on the disposal of radioactive waste in
Boom Clay in the Netherlands (OPERA) have been presented to the public in
January 2018. More information on OPERA is available in section H, article
8.c.

Public Information Materials Exchange, PIME

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C. Scope and inventory (Article 2, Article 12.1 (c), Article
14.2 (b))
Article 2 – Scope
1. This Directive shall apply to all stages of:
(a) spent fuel management when the spent fuel results from civilian activities;
(b) radioactive waste management, from generation to disposal, when the radioactive waste
results from civilian activities.
2. This Directive shall not apply to:
(a) waste from extractive industries which may be radioactive and which falls within the scope of
Directive 2006/21/EC;
(b) authorised releases.
3. Article 4(4) of this Directive shall not apply to:
(a) repatriation of disused sealed sources to a supplier or manufacturer;
(b) shipment of spent fuel of research reactors to a country where research reactor fuels are
supplied or manufactured, taking into account applicable international agreements;
(c) the waste and spent fuel of the existing Krško nuclear power plant, when it concerns shipments
between Slovenia and Croatia.
4. This Directive shall not affect the right of a Member State or an undertaking in that Member
State to return radioactive waste after processing to its country of origin where:
(a) the radioactive waste is to be shipped to that Member State or undertaking for processing; or
(b) other material is to be shipped to that Member State or undertaking with the purpose of
recovering the radioactive waste.
This Directive shall not affect the right of a Member State or an undertaking in that Member State
to which spent fuel is to be shipped for treatment or reprocessing to return to its country of
origin radioactive waste recovered from the treatment or reprocessing operation, or an
agreed equivalent.
Article 12 – Contents of national programmes
1. The national programmes shall set out how the Member States intend to implement their
national policies referred to in Article 4 for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and
radioactive waste to secure the aims of this Directive, and shall include all of the following:
(…)
(c) an inventory of all spent fuel and radioactive waste and estimates for future quantities,
including those from decommissioning, clearly indicating the location and amount of the
radioactive waste and spent fuel in accordance with appropriate classification of the radioactive
waste;
Article 14 – Reporting
(…)
2. On the basis of the Member States’ reports, the Commission shall submit to the European
Parliament and the Council the following:
(…)
(b) an inventory of radioactive waste and spent fuel present in the Community’s territory and the
future prospects.
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12.1.c Inventory of spent fuel and radioactive waste in the Netherlands

Classification of spent fuel and radioactive waste

Figure 2: Classification of spent fuel and radioactive waste in Dutch; (above: hoogradioactief
afval is high-level waste, laag- en middelradioactief afval (inclusief NORM) is low- and
intermediate-level waste (including NORM), kortlevend radioactief afval is very shortlived
waste and vrijgesteld afval is exempt waste), according to IAEA standards (below).

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Spent Fuel management facilities

Table 1: Spent Fuel management facilities

Inventory of spent fuel

The inventory of spent fuel at the end of 2017, stored at the COVRA facilities, is
summarized below:
SF of NPPs 10
SF of RRs
Uranium targets 11

0 m³
7,0 m³
1,2 m³

0 Bq
93,076 PBq
2,749 PBq

Radioactive waste management facilities

In table 2 below, a list of the radioactive waste management facilities is given. Only
those radioactive waste management facilities are reported whose main purpose is
radioactive waste management. This means that small-scale waste management at
departments of hospitals, research institutes or industries which store radioactive
waste for decay (allowed for waste with a half-life of less than 100 days, which is
allowed to be stored for decay on site for a maximum of two years) or which perform
simple operations such as compacting waste awaiting collection by COVRA, are not
included in the list.
Waste storage departments of the NPP Borssele and of the research reactors are not
specifically mentioned either, because a general license condition obliges LHs to limit
their inventories by transferring their radioactive waste periodically to COVRA. NRG is
not allowed to store new waste in the WSF.

10
11

All NPP SF is reprocessed.
Uranium filters with uranium from targets.

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Table 2: Radioactive waste management facilities

Inventory of radioactive waste at COVRA

The inventory of radioactive waste at the end of 2017, stored at the COVRA facilities,
is summarized below:
HLW (including RRSF)
LILW
NORM-wastes

105 m³
11,358 m³
21,509 m³

2.987 PBq
3.408.464 GBq
629.161 GBq

In the 36 years that COVRA exists, on average the increase is 3 m³ / year for HLW and
approximately 300 m³ / year for LILW. A temporary increase to approximately 6.3 m³
HLW / year and 504 m³ LILW / year is foreseen in due time caused by the historical
waste from Petten.

Nuclear facilities in the process of being decommissioned

Table 3: Nuclear facilities in the process of being decommissioned

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14.2.b Future prospects of inventory of radioactive waste and spent fuel

The future volumes of radioactive waste and spent fuel have been estimated as
follows in the national programme:
The volume of high-level waste in 2130 is estimated at 400 m3 (Figure 3). Of that
volume, almost two thirds is non-heat-producing waste, while more than one third
will be heat producing. One uncertainty that influences the volume of HRA is the
presence of operational nuclear installations in the Netherlands. In drawing up the
inventory, account was taken of the closure of the nuclear power plant in Borssele in
2033 and the dismantling of that plant over the subsequent decades, and the
construction of a research reactor in Petten (Pallas). Following the closure and
dismantling of the nuclear power plant in Borssele, the volume of HRA produced each
year will fall considerably.

Figure 3: Development of the volume of HRA through to 2130

The volume of LMRA in 2130 is estimated at 70,000 m3 (see Figure 4). Of this total,
approximately two thirds will decay over the next hundred years to below the
exemption threshold. Decayed waste can be disposed of as conventional waste, and
does not need to be placed in the geological disposal.

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Figure 4: Development of the volume of LMRA through to 2130

The volume of NORM waste in 2130 is estimated at 158,000 m3 (see Figure 5).
Because of this huge volume, minor changes in legislation and regulations could bring
about major fluctuations in the volume of NORM waste. Current production has been
extrapolated into the future.

Figure 5: Development of the stored volume of NORM at COVRA through to 2130

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D. General principles and policies (Article 4)
Article 4 – General principles
1. Member States shall establish and maintain national policies on spent fuel and radioactive
waste management. Without prejudice to Article 2(3), each Member State shall have ultimate
responsibility for management of the spent fuel and radioactive waste generated in it.
2. Where radioactive waste or spent fuel is shipped for processing or reprocessing to a Member
State or a third country, the ultimate responsibility for the safe and responsible disposal of
those materials, including any waste as a by‐product, shall remain with the Member State or
third country from which the radioactive material was shipped.
3. National policies shall be based on all of the following principles:
(a) the generation of radioactive waste shall be kept to the minimum which is reasonably
practicable, both in terms of activity and volume, by means of appropriate design measures
and of operating and decommissioning practices, including the recycling and reuse of
materials;
(b) the interdependencies between all steps in spent fuel and radioactive waste generation and
management shall be taken into account;
(c) spent fuel and radioactive waste shall be safely managed, including in the long term with
passive safety features;
(d) implementation of measures shall follow a graded approach;
(e) the costs for the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste shall be borne by those
who
generated those materials;
(f) an evidence‐based and documented decision‐making process shall be applied with regard to
all stages of the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste.
4. Radioactive waste shall be disposed of in the Member State in which it was generated, unless
at the time
of shipment an agreement, taking into account the criteria established by the Commission in
accordance
with Article 16(2) of Directive 2006/117/Euratom, has entered into force between the Member
State
concerned and another Member State or a third country to use a disposal facility in one of
them.
Prior to a shipment to a third country, the exporting Member State shall inform the Commission
of the
content of any such agreement and take reasonable measures to be assured that:
(a) the country of destination has concluded an agreement with the Community covering spent
fuel and radioactive waste management or is a party to the Joint Convention on the Safety of
Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (‘the Joint
Convention’);
(b) the country of destination has radioactive waste management and disposal programmes
with
objectives representing a high level of safety equivalent to those established by this Directive;
and
(c) the disposal facility in the country of destination is authorised for the radioactive waste to be
shipped, is operating prior to the shipment, and is managed in accordance with the
requirements set down in the radioactive waste management and disposal programme of that
country of destination.

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4.1/4.2 Statements about the national policy of the Netherlands in relation
to Article 4 of the Directive

The Netherlands has implemented the Directive in national legislation. In accordance
with the Directive, the Netherlands bears ultimate responsibility for the management
of spent fuel and radioactive waste. This responsibility includes the conditions as
formulated in articles 4.2 and 4.4 of the Directive.
The national policy of the Netherlands in respect of the management of spent fuel
and radioactive waste is based on the principles as formulated in Article 4.3 of the
Directive. See section A for a summary of the national policy on radioactive waste
management and below for a summary of the implementation thereof.
The national policy of the Netherlands provides for safe storage management,
followed by disposal of all radioactive waste categories in one geological facility.
In Articles 22 and 33 of the Nuclear Energy Act provisions have been made for
situations where the owner or other responsible person or organisation of fissionable
material (including spent fuel) or radioactive material respectively cannot be
identified. This applies for example to orphan sources.
In such cases the RB has been empowered to impound such material and have it
transferred to designated institutes, which are equipped and licensed to manage
these materials. For fissionable materials two institutes have been designated by a
special decree 12: NRG in Petten and COVRA in Nieuwdorp. The same institutes as well
as the RIVM in Bilthoven have been designated for the management of radioactive
materials.
Political decisions in relation to Article 4 of the Directive, that form the
basis for the national policy

The national programme describes the Dutch policy on the management of
radioactive waste, including the route to disposal. The basis of the national policy on
radioactive waste management is from 1984. The policy has undergone little change
over the past 30 years, and complies with the requirements of Article 4.
Directive 2011/70/Euratom has been fully implemented in the Decree on Basic Safety
Standards for Radiation Protection (Bss, Article 10.1) and in the Nuclear Installations,
Fissionable Materials and Ores Decree (Article 40a).
4.3 Summary of implementation of policy principles

In the Netherlands, the policy on the management of radioactive waste also applies to
SF.

12 Decree on the designation of institutes as meant under articles 22 sub 4 and 33 sub 4 of the Nuclear
Energy Act, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 1996, 528

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4.3.a Minimization of radioactive waste

Minimization of the generation of radioactive waste is part of the policy on the
management of radioactive waste, as referred to in section A. Furthermore, according
to the Decree on Basic Safety Standards for Radiation Protection (Bss), a LH in
possession of radioactive material is obliged to minimise the generation of radioactive
waste. The LH is in principle free to choose its measures to achieve this.
Also by reuse and reprocessing the quantity of radioactive waste is minimized. See
Current practice reprocessing (section A) for information on reprocessing.
4.3.b Interdependencies in spent fuel and radioactive waste generation and
management

The basic steps in SF management are not fundamentally different from those in
radioactive waste management. For radioactive waste management the steps
identified are generation, collection, treatment, conditioning, storage and disposal.
For SF management under ‘pre-treatment’ is meant the temporary storage of SF with
the aim of cooling down in the storage pool at the reactor site. Treatment is to be
understood as reprocessing at a reprocessing plant as the one of ORANO in France.
After SF has been shipped to the reprocessing plant, the SF is allowed to further cool
down for some five to eight years in pools. Then the fuel is removed and sheared into
pieces for further processing.
Solvents are used to separate uranium, plutonium and fission products. The fission
products and other reprocessing residues are conditioned in packages that facilitate
their long-term storage without significant maintenance.
The fuel from the RRs is also packed in sealed canisters consistent with maintenancefree storage. The final step in waste management is geological disposal.
4.3.c Safe Management in the long term, passive safety features

The Netherlands foresees geological disposal in 2130. Geological disposal is one of the
management options that following closure offers passive safety. In the meantime, for
the long-term safe storage of high-level waste, the HABOG is as far as possible
equipped with passive safety features.
4.3.d Graded approach

The policy on management of radioactive waste follows a graded approach (see Table
4 below). COVRA has dedicated buildings for high-level waste (HABOG), low and
intermediate level waste and NORM waste (for instance VOG-2).

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Table 4: Categories of radioactive waste and management facilities
4.3.e Costs for the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste:
polluter pays

One of the policy principles is that the ‘polluter pays’ for the costs of radioactive
waste management.
This is implemented as follows:
1. Some of the buildings at COVRA are "dedicated" for large clients, and
commissioned on their behalf. These buildings are invoiced, and not activated
on COVRA's balance sheet. An example is the expansion of the HABOG, which
is paid for by EPZ and the new building for depleted uranium (VOG-2), which
is paid for by Urenco. The financial construction risk is therefore taken away
from COVRA.
2. Upon delivery of the waste, the supplier pays COVRA the stipulated price
(contractual) tariff, which serves to cover the costs arising from the services
over the entire management cycle (from transport, processing, storage to
final disposal) on the basis of the current insights. With the implementation of
the Directive, the obligation has been introduced to set off the research costs
into waste management in the charges imposed by COVRA. After payment,
COVRA takes over the legal ownership and thereby the responsibility for the
radioactive waste. This policy prevents waste suppliers from being unable to
meet their obligations in the future in the event of financial problems. COVRA
thus mitigates the risks that could arise from a possible future bankruptcy of
waste producers.
4.3.f Evidence-based and documented decision-making processes

The reversible structuring of the process for (definitive) disposal will relieve future
generations from the burden of decisions taken in the past. This means that during
the entire process of preparation for disposal, realisation of the disposal facility and
actual disposal of the waste, consideration will have to be given to whether the step
should be taken, or whether a step back should be taken in the process.
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4.4 Transboundary movement

The Netherlands, as a member state of the European Union, has implemented in its
national legislation Council Directive 2006/117/Euratom.
Under these regulations exports of radioactive waste require a license to be issued by
the ANVS and imports require approval by the ANVS. License applications for a
transboundary shipment of radioactive waste must be made to the ANVS using the
standard document laid down in Council Directive 2006/117/Euratom. After 6
February 2018, with the implementation of the Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom
(European Basic Safety Standards), also the import and export of NORM-waste falls
within the scope of Council Directive 2006/117/Euratom.
The export of spent fuel is not considered to be export of radioactive waste, but does
fall within the scope of Council Directive 2006/117/Euratom. The export of spent fuel
(destined for reprocessing) therefore requires a license issued by the ANVS.
In addition to the import or export license, a transport license is required based on
the Dutch Nuclear Energy Act. The transport shall be in compliance with the
international transport regulations covering aspects such as transport safety,
radiation protection and package design. Finally, physical protection measures are
required based on the IAEA Convention of Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and
Nuclear Facilities (CPPNMNF) to which the Netherlands is a party.

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E. National Framework (Article 5)

Article 5 – National framework
5.1. Member States shall establish and maintain a national legislative, regulatory and
organisational framework (‘national framework’) for spent fuel and radioactive waste
management that allocates responsibility and provides for coordination between relevant
competent bodies. The national framework shall provide for all of the following:
a. a national programme for the implementation of spent fuel and radioactive waste
management policy;
b. national arrangements for the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management. The
determination of how those arrangements are to be adopted and through which instrument
they are to be applied rests within the competence of the Member States;
c. a system of licensing of spent fuel and radioactive waste management activities, facilities or
both, including the prohibition of spent fuel or radioactive waste management activities, of the
operation of a spent fuel or radioactive waste management facility without a licence or both
and, if appropriate, prescribing conditions for further management of the activity, facility or
both;
d. a system of appropriate control, a management system, regulatory inspections,
documentation and reporting obligations for radioactive waste and spent fuel management
activities, facilities or both, including appropriate measures for the post-closure periods of
disposal facilities;
e. enforcement actions, including the suspension of activities and the modification, expiration
or revocation of a licence together with requirements, if appropriate, for alternative solutions
that lead to improved safety;
f. the allocation of responsibility to the bodies involved in the different steps of spent fuel and
radioactive waste management; in particular, the national framework shall give primary
responsibility for the spent fuel and radioactive waste to their generators or, under specific
circumstances, to a licence holder to whom this responsibility has been entrusted by
competent bodies;
g. national requirements for public information and participation;
h. the financing scheme(s) for spent fuel and radioactive waste management in accordance
with Article 9.
5.2. Member States shall ensure that the national framework is improved where appropriate,
taking into account operating experience, insights gained from the decision-making process
referred to in Article 4(3)(f), and the development of relevant technology and research.

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5.0 Overview of national legislative framework
Simplified representation of the hierarchy of the legal framework for
applications of nuclear technology

The legal framework in the Netherlands with respect to nuclear installations can be
presented as a hierarchical structure (Figure 5).
The Nuclear Energy Act (Kew)
is the most prominent law.
Decrees contain additional
regulation.
Regulations contain additional
regulation.
ANVS-regulations give
additional guidance or rules for
certain topics.
NVRs are safety requirements
referenced in the license of the
NPP.
Various codes and standards
are part of the licensing base.

Figure 5: Dutch legal framework in a hierarchical structure

Several laws apply to the governance of radioactive waste and spent fuel. The Nuclear
Energy Act (Kew 13) is the most prominent law governing nuclear safety and radiation
protection and the proper management of these materials. It is a framework law,
which sets out the basic rules on the application of nuclear technology and materials,
makes provision for radiation protection, designates the competent authorities and
outlines their responsibilities.
Other important acts are:
• Environmental Protection Act (‘Wet milieubeheer’, Wm)
• General Administrative Act (‘Algemene wet bestuursrecht’, Awb)
• Act on Liability for Nuclear Accidents (‘Wet aansprakelijkheid
kernongevallen’, WAKO)
• Water Act (‘Waterwet’, Ww)
• Environmental Planning Act (‘Wet algemene bepalingen omgevingsrecht’,
Wabo)
Subordinate to the Nuclear Energy Act, a number of Decrees have been written with
additional regulations related to the use of nuclear technology and materials and are
updated in the light of ongoing developments. For the management of spent fuel and
radioactive waste, in particular the following governmental decrees are relevant:

13

Dutch: KEW, ‘Kernenergiewet’, Nuclear Energy Law.

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•
•
•
•

The Decree on Basic Safety Standards Radiation Protection (Bbs 14) lays down
the most important rules for handling radioactive waste;
The Nuclear Installations, Fissionable Materials and Ores Decree (Bkse 15) lays
down the most important rules for handling spent fuel;
The Transport of Fissionable Materials, Ores and Radioactive Substances
Decree (Bvser 16) regulates the transport of spent fuel and radioactive waste;
the Radioactive Scrap Detection Decree 17 lays down rules for detection of
radioactive scrap.

At a lower level there are the regulations 18. These can be issued by the minister
responsible for conducting the regulatory process under the Nuclear Energy Act.
Since August 1st 2017 the ANVS has been established as an independent
administrative authority, which is authorized to issue not only NVRs based on IAEA
Safety Standards, but also ‘ANVS-regulations’. These will be issued if:
•
•
•

guidance or rules are needed on technical or organisational issues;
guidance or rules relevant to nuclear safety, radiation protection and security
are needed; and
Decrees or regulations refer to guidance to be provided in ANVS-regulations.

In the hierarchy of the legal framework the ANVS-regulations are positioned between
the regulations and the NVRs.
The Nuclear Safety Rules (Dutch: NVRs 19) are based on IAEA Safety Standards. The
Nuclear Energy Act (Article 21 section 1 of the Kew) provides the basis for this system
of more detailed safety regulations concerning the design, operation and quality
assurance of (mainly) nuclear power plants. In the current NVRs, which also are
contained in the license of NPP Borssele, the WENRA Reactor Safety Reference Levels
published in 2008 have been implemented. Implementation of the WENRA SRLs
published in 2014 is ongoing.
The Netherlands has a diverse nuclear programme with different nuclear installations
but it is also a small programme with just one installation of each kind; a nuclear
power reactor, a permanently shut down nuclear power reactor in ‘Safe Enclosure’,
three research reactors (of which one is in decommissioning), hot cell facilities,
radiological laboratories, an enrichment plant and a central national radioactive waste
storage facility. Because of this diversity and to allow maximum flexibility, specific
requirements are listed in the license, tailored to the characteristics of the
installations, rather than in general ordinances. In the licenses, NVRs can be referred
to as well as to other codes and standards.

Dutch: Bbs, ‘Besluit Basisveiligheidsnormen Stralingsbescherming’.
Dutch: Bkse, ‘Besluit kerninstallaties, splijtstoffen en ertsen’.
16
Dutch: Bvser, ‘Besluit vervoer splijtstoffen, ertsen en radioactieve stoffen vervoer splijtstoffen, ertsen en
radioactieve stoffen’.
17
Dutch: ‘Besluit detectie radioactief besmet schroot’.
18
Dutch: MR, ‘Ministeriële Regelingen’.
19
Dutch: NVR, ‘Nucleaire Veiligheids Regels’.
14
15

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Legal framework within which the RB functions

For the purpose of this report, the RB is the authority designated by the government
as having legal authority for conducting the regulatory process, including issuing
authorizations, supervision and enforcement and thereby regulating nuclear safety,
radiation protection, radioactive waste management, transport safety, security and
safeguards. In 2015, various entities that formerly constituted the RB, have largely
merged into one entity, the newly established Authority for Nuclear Safety and
Radiation Protection, ANVS 20. The ANVS brings together expertise in the fields of
nuclear safety and radiation protection, as well as security and safeguards.
Since the last national report, the Nuclear Energy Act and subordinate regulation were
updated with the legal establishment of the ANVS as an independent administrative
authority (Dutch acronym: ZBO). The ANVS as a ZBO is independent in its functioning
and organising its activities, but a Minister remains politically responsible for its
functioning and he or she is accountable to the Parliament.
The tasks of the ANVS can be summarised as follows:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

preparing legislation, regulations and policy (including the national
programme);
awarding licenses as well as the accompanying review & assessment and
evaluation tasks;
supervision and enforcement;
informing and communicating to interested parties and the public;
participating in activities of international organisations;
maintaining relationships with comparable foreign authorities and national
and international organisations;
supporting national organisations with the provision of knowledge;
having research in support of the implementation of its tasks.

For more information on the organisation and functioning of the RB, see section F.
Primary legislative framework: acts

Nuclear Energy Act (Kew)
With regard to nuclear energy, the purpose of the Nuclear Energy Act according to its
Article 15b is to serve the following interests:
•
•
•
•
•
•

20

the protection of people, animals, plants and property;
the security of the State;
the storage and safeguarding of fissionable materials and ores;
the supply of energy;
the payment of compensation for any damage or injury caused to third
parties;
the observance of international obligations.

Dutch: ANVS, ‘Autoriteit Nucleaire Veiligheid en Stralingsbescherming’.

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Three areas of application
As far as nuclear installations are concerned, the Nuclear Energy Act covers three
distinct areas related to the handling of fissionable materials and ores (1) registration,
(2) transport and management of such materials, and (3) the operation of facilities
and sites at which these materials are stored, used or processed:
(1) The registration of fissionable materials and ores is regulated in sections 13 and 14
of the Nuclear Energy Act; further details are given in a special Decree issued on 8
October 1969 (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 471). The statutory rules include a
reporting requirement under which notice must be given of the presence of stocks of
fissionable materials and ores. The Central Import and Export Office, part of the Tax
and Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance, is responsible for maintaining
the register.
(2) A license is required in order to transport, import, export, be in possession of or
dispose of fissionable materials and ores. This is specified in Article 15, sub (a) of the
Act. The licensing requirements apply to each specific activity mentioned here.
(3) Licenses are also required for construction, commissioning, operating, modifying
or decommissioning nuclear installations (Article 15, sub b), as well as for nuclear
driven ships (Article 15 sub c). To date, the latter category has never been of any
practical significance in the Netherlands.
General Administrative Act (Awb)
The General Administrative Act sets out the procedure for obtaining a license, and
also describes the role played by the general public in this procedure (i.e. objections
and appeals). It also details the general procedures for the oversight and the
enforcement, and - related to the latter - the possible sanctions. This act applies to
virtually all procedures under any act, including the Nuclear Energy Act.
In the Government Gazette, as well as in the national and local press, notice must be
given of the publication of a draft decision to award a license to a facility (e.g. for
waste management). At the same time, copies of the draft decision and of the
documents submitted by the applicant must be made available for inspection by the
general public to enable them to express their opinions. All opinions submitted are
taken into account in the final version. Stakeholders that have submitted an opinion
to the draft decision are free to appeal to the Council of State (the highest
administrative court in the Netherlands) against the decision by which the license is
eventually granted, amended or withdrawn.
Environmental Protection Act (Wm)
In the case of non-nuclear installations, this act regulates all environmental issues
(e.g. chemical substances, stench and noise). In the case of nuclear installations, the
Nuclear Energy Act takes precedence over the Wm and regulates both conventional
and nonconventional environmental issues.
In compliance with the Environmental Protection Act and the Environmental Impact
Assessment Decree, the licensing procedure for the construction of a nuclear
installation (including a waste management facility) includes a requirement to draft an
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report. In certain circumstances, an EIA is also
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required if an existing plant is modified. A permanent committee, ‘Commissie m.e.r.’,
can be consulted for advice to the RB on the desirability of an EIA procedure and on
the requirements to be imposed on the EIA-report to be prepared by the licence
applicant.
The general public and interest groups often use the EIA as a means of commenting
on and raising objections to decisions on nuclear activities. This clearly demonstrates
the value of these documents in facilitating public debate and involvement.
Secondary regulatory framework: Governmental Decrees, subordinate to
the Nuclear Energy Act

As described above, a number of decrees subordinate to the Nuclear Energy Act have
been issued. These contain additional regulations and are continuously updated in the
light of ongoing developments. The most important of these degrees in relation to the
safety aspects of nuclear installations and radioactive materials are described in
somewhat more detail below, including: the Decree on Basic Safety Standards for
Radiation Protection (Bbs), the Nuclear Installations, Fissionable Materials and Ores
Decree (Bkse) and the Transport of Fissionable Materials, Ores, and Radioactive
Substances Decree (Bvser).
The Nuclear Energy Act and the above mentioned decrees are fully in compliance with
European Council Directives like:
• Council Directive 2009/71/Euratom, establishing a Community framework for
the nuclear safety of nuclear installations.
• Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom, establishing a Community framework for
the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste.
• Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom laying down basic safety standards for
protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation.
• Council Directive 2014/87/Euratom amending Directive 2009/71/Euratom
establishing a Community framework for the nuclear safety of nuclear
installations.
Decree on Basic Safety Standards Radiation Protection (Bbs)
The Netherlands has transposed Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom, laying down
basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to
radiation, in its national legislation. On 6 February 2018, the Decree on Basic Safety
Standards for Radiation Protection (In Dutch: “Besluit basisveiligheidsnormen
stralingsbescherming”) and its underlying regulations: Regulation on Basic Safety
Standards for Radiation Protection (in Dutch: “Regeling basisveiligheidsnormen
stralingsbescherming”); Regulation on Radiation Protection for Occupational Exposure
(in Dutch: “Regeling stralingsbescherming beroepsmatige blootstelling”); Regulation
on Radiation Protection for Medical Exposure (in Dutch: “Regeling
stralingsbescherming medische blootstelling”), and ANVS-regulation on Basic Safety
Standards for Radiation Protection (In Dutch: “ANVS-Verordening
basisveiligheidsnormen stralingsbescherming”) have come into force.
The implementation lead to the introduction of a situation based approach (planned,
emergency and existing situations). Another change was the introduction of
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“registration” as one of the two instruments to authorise practices using ionising
radiation. Licensing is the other instrument to authorise practices.
This Decree also regulates the requirements for the recycling or disposal of unsealed
or sealed sources that are no longer used. Additional requirements for High-Activity
Sealed Sources and orphan sources are also laid down in this Decree.
Nuclear Installations, Fissionable Materials and Ores Decree (Bkse)
The Bkse and licensing construction, commissioning & operation of a nuclear reactor
The Nuclear Installations, Fissionable Materials and Ores Decree, regulates activities
(including licensing) that involve fissionable materials and nuclear installations. The
Bkse sets out additional regulations in relation to a number of areas, including the
licence application for the construction, commissioning and operation of a nuclear
reactor, and associated requirements. According to its Article 6, applicants are
required to supply the following information to the RB:
•
•

•

•
•

•
•

a description of the site where the plant is to be located, including a
statement of all relevant geographical, geological, climatological and other
conditions;
a description of the installation, including the equipment to be used in it, the
mode of operation of the installation and the equipment, a list of the names
of the suppliers of those components which have a bearing on the
assessment of the safety aspects, and a specification of the installation’s
maximum thermal power;
a statement of the chemical and physical condition, the shape, the content
and the degree of enrichment of the fissionable materials which are to be
used in the installation, specifying the maximum quantities of the various
fissionable materials that will be present in the installation at any one time;
a description of the way in which the applicant intends to dispose of the
relevant fissionable materials after their use;
a description of the measures to be taken either by or on behalf of the
applicant so as to prevent harm or detriment or to reduce the risk of harm or
detriment, including measures to prevent any harm or detriment caused
outside the installation during normal operation, and to prevent any harm or
detriment arising from the Postulated Initiating Events (PIEs) referred to in
the description, as well as a radiological accident analysis concerning the
harm or detriment likely to be caused outside the installation as a result of
those events (Safety Analysis Report);
a risk analysis concerning the harm or detriment likely to be caused outside
the installation as a result of severe accidents (Probabilistic Safety Analyses);
a global description of plans for eventual decommissioning and its funding, in
line with the recently established ordinance on shutdown and
decommissioning.

The Bkse and decommissioning
The Bkse includes legislation on decommissioning of nuclear installations and financial
provisions for the costs of decommissioning. An important part of this legislation was
based on the WENRA Safety Reference Levels on decommissioning.

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The Bkse requires the LH of nuclear installations to have a decommissioning plan
during the lifetime of the facility and submit it to the authorities for its evaluation and
decision on approval. The plan shall be periodically (every five years) updated. The
Bkse specifies the minimum requirements on the content of the decommissioning
plan. The decommissioning plan (1) serves as the safety-basis for all the activities
carried out during the decommissioning phase, and (2) it provides the basis for the
calculation of the necessary financial provisions for the decommissioning costs.
LHs of nuclear reactors are required to provide a financial security plan for the costs
of decommissioning, to update and submit it to the authorities at least every five
years for approval. The LH is in principle free to choose the form of the financial
provision. Upon approval, the authorities will assess whether the financial plan offers
sufficient security for covering the decommissioning costs at the moment of
decommissioning.
Modification of the regulation, aiming at the extension of this financial requirement to
license holders of non-nuclear facilities (for instance companies operating cyclotrons),
is currently being drafted.
Transport of Fissionable Materials, Ores and Radioactive Substances Decree (Bvser)
The Transport of Fissionable Materials, Ores and Radioactive Substances Decree deals
with the import, export and inland transport of fissionable materials, ores and
radioactive substances by means of a reporting and licensing system.
Regulations and guides issued by the Regulatory Body: ANVS-regulations and NVRs
As explained above, the ANVS can issue ANVS-regulations that provide guidance or
rules on various topics.
At a lower level there are Nuclear Safety Rules, the NVRs. The Nuclear Installations,
Fissionable Materials and Ores Decree (Bkse, Article 20) provides the basis for a
system of more detailed safety regulations concerning the design, operation and
quality assurance of nuclear facilities, including the NVRs. These regulations are based
on the Safety Standards and Guides issued by the IAEA and apply to an installation or
nuclear facility as far as they are referenced in their licenses. This allows the RB to
enforce the requirements of the NVRs.
At the same level as the NVRs the ‘Guidelines on the Safe Design and Operation of
Nuclear Reactors’ – Nuclear Safety Guidelines or VOBK for short – exists. These Safety
Guidelines provide new reactor license applicants with detailed insight into what the
ANVS considers to be the best available technology.
WENRA Safety Reference Levels
The Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA) has introduced
WENRA Safety Reference Levels (SRLs), aiming to harmonise reference levels for
nuclear safety, for the safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste and for
decommissioning. In the framework of radioactive waste management, especially the
WENRA reference levels for storage of radioactive waste and spent fuel and for
decommissioning are relevant; they have impact on how waste management and
decommissioning is addressed in the Dutch regulatory framework. An example is the
regulation on decommissioning and financial provisions for the costs of
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decommissioning in the Governmental Decree Bkse, an important part of which was
based on the WENRA SRLs.
The Netherlands participates in the WENRA Reactor Harmonisation Working Group
and the WENRA Working Group on Waste and Decommissioning.
National safety requirements and regulations for radiation safety

This section details the requirements in the regulatory framework with respect to
radiation safety as far as it is relevant for the handling of SF and / or radioactive
waste.
General requirements
The Nuclear Energy Act (Kew), together with The Decree on Basic Safety Standards for
Radiation Protection (Bbs), provides for a system of general goal oriented rules and
regulations. The Bbs also regulates general radioactive waste requirements, and
prescribes that radioactive material for which no further use is foreseen is declared as
radioactive waste.
Besides this, the Bbs stipulates that an authorized user of radioactive material is
allowed to transfer radioactive material without a license in only a limited number of
ways:
if the material is not declared as waste:
• if the activity or the activity concentration is below the exemption/clearance
levels, as applicable;
• in the case of sealed sources, if return of the source to the manufacturer or
supplier of the source if possible;
• by transfer to another individual or legal person for use, reuse or recycling of
this radioactive material or for collection and pre-treatment of radioactive
waste, provided that this person holds a valid license for this material.
If radioactive material is declared as waste:
• the waste should be transferred to: a recognised waste management
organisation. COVRA is the only recognized organisation for the collection,
treatment and storage of radioactive waste;
• for NORM subject to notification: by transfer to one of two licensed
designated landfills for the collection of radioactive waste.
The underlying philosophy for the choice for one central storage facility is that,
because of the relatively small amounts of waste to be managed, only a centralised
approach can ensure an adequate level of professionalism in the management of the
waste. Furthermore, the demands for conditioning and packaging are unequivocal
and therefore more easily to manage and enforce. Consequently, most requirements
are established in the license of COVRA and few specific rules exist for spent fuel and
radioactive waste management facilities.
Radiation safety requirements
The radiation safety aspects during operations in the spent fuel and radioactive waste
management facilities of COVRA are (among others) governed by two Governmental
Decrees:
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•
•

the Nuclear Installations, Fissionable Materials and Ores Decree (Bkse);
The Decree on Basic Safety Standards for Radiation Protection (Bss).

These Decrees set the criteria for:
• standard operation;
• design base accidents;
• incidents and accidents.
Standard operation
The main elements of the Bbs are: (1) justification of the activity, (2) optimization ALARA and (3) dose limits.
Practices involving ionizing radiation should be justified. The applicant for a licence
shall provide arguments to the ANVS for the necessary justification. In order to
support the justification process, the Dutch regulation features a list of already
‘justified’ and ‘not justified practices’.
The exposure to ionising radiation should be kept As Low As Reasonably Achievable
(ALARA). The ALARA-principle is recorded in the Nuclear Energy Act (Article 31), the
Bbs Decree and in the Bkse Decree.
The dose limit is a maximum total individual dose of 1 mSv for members of the public
and 20 mSv for workers in any given year as a consequence of normal operation from
all anthropogenic sources emitting ionising radiation (i.e. NPPs, waste management
facilities, isotope laboratories, sealed sources, X-ray machines, industries, etc.), thus
excluding natural background and medical exposures.
The annual dose limit for public exposure is a cumulative limit that relates to the sum
of the annual public exposure resulting from all practices. Since one undertaking
cannot be held responsible for the contributions to public dose resulting from
practices performed by other undertakings, national policy is that a maximum of onetenth part of the cumulative dose limit is assigned to the undertaking applying for
authorization of a practice. As a result, the authorized undertaking is obliged to
ensure that the effective dose of a member of the public does not exceed the value
included in the licence or registration. An application for authorisation will always be
refused if the practice results in an effective public dose higher than 0.1 mSv per year.
An employer of a facility where workers can be exposed to ionising radiation is
required to classify persons as radiation workers in one of the categories A or B for
individual monitoring and supervision purposes. Category A workers are likely to
receive doses greater than three-tenths of the dose limit for workers (6 mSv per year
for whole body exposure). The employer shall ensure these workers are subject to
medical surveillance and an individual monitoring programme arranged in accordance
with requirements of the Bss. Category B workers are likely to be exposed during their
work to radiation greater than the dose limit for members of the public (1 mSv per
year for whole body exposure), but less than 6 mSv per year. The employer of a
category B worker shall ensure that these workers are covered in an individual
monitoring programme.
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Incidents and accidents
Bkse specifies probabilistic acceptance criteria for individual mortality risk and societal
risk. The maximum permissible level for the individual mortality risk (i.e. acute and/or
late death) has been set at 10-5 per annum for all sources together and 10-6 per annum
for any single source. These numerical criteria were developed as part of general
Dutch risk management policy in the late eighties. Based on an average annual
mortality risk of 10-4 per annum for the least sensitive (highest life expectancy)
population group (i.e. youngsters around 12 years old) from all causes, it was decided
that any industrial activity should not add more than 1% to this risk. Hence, 10-6 per
annum was selected as the maximum permissible additional risk per installation.
Furthermore, it is assumed that nobody will be exposed to more than 10 installations
and the permissible cumulative individual mortality risk is therefore set at 10-5 per
annum.
Where severe accidents are concerned, not only the individual mortality risk must be
considered but also the group risk (societal risk). In order to avoid large-scale
disruption to society, the probability of an accident in which at least 10 people suffer
acute death is restricted to a level of 10-5 per year. If the number of fatalities increases
by the factor of n, the probability should decrease by a factor of n2. Acute death
means death within a few weeks; long-term effects are not included in the group risk.
Safety assessments
The license application for a waste storage facility shall include a safety assessment.
The assessment shall demonstrate that criteria for individual risk and societal risk
(mentioned above) are met. The license usually includes a requirement to periodically
update the assessment.
Furthermore, the assessment shall include the evaluation of a set of Design Base
Accidents (DBAs), for which protection is included in the design of the facility.
The Bkse Decree specifies that the risks due to DBAs should be lower than the values
given in Table 5.

Table 5: Set of safety criteria related to postulated Design Base Accidents for nuclear facilities

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5.1. Member states shall establish a national legislative, regulatory and
organization framework (national framework)
5.1.a National programme for the implementation of the policy on the
management of spent fuel and radioactive waste – provisions in a legal
framework

According to articles 11 and 12 of the Council directive 2011/70/Euratom a national
programme has been drafted 21. Both the public and the Netherlands Commission for
Environmental Assessment have been consulted on the draft national programma.
The redraft has been approved by the Council of Ministers and subsequently the
concept has been submitted to the Parliament.
This section does not provide a description of the content of the national programme.
The legal framework with its provisions relating to the implementation of the national
policy via a national programme is already described in section 5.0.
More information about the national programme in this report is available in section
A and D.
5.1.b National arrangements for the safety of the management of spent fuel
and radioactive waste

See the previous section. Apart from the legal instruments mentioned there are no
national arrangements.

5.1.c A system of licensing of spent fuel and radioactive waste management
activities

Licensing Procedures
The procedures to obtain a license under the Nuclear Energy Act (and other acts)
follow the guidelines specified in the General Administrative Act (Awb). These
procedures allow for public involvement in the licensing process. Any stakeholder is
entitled to express his views regarding a proposed activity. If the Environmental
Protection Act also applies, everybody may express his or her view. The RB shall take
notice of all views expressed and respond to them with careful reasoning. If a member
of the public is not content with the reply, the RB can be challenged in court.
Article 15b of the Nuclear Energy Act enumerates the interests for the protection of
which a license may be refused (listed above in the section on Article 19.1, sub c). The
license itself lists the restrictions and conditions imposed to take account of these
interests. The license conditions may include an obligation to satisfy further
requirements, related to the subject of the license condition, as set by the competent
RB.
Construction licenses / operating licenses
The Nuclear Energy Act distinguishes between construction licenses and operating
licenses. A license to build an installation is issued separately from any license to
21

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actually operate it. However, the licensing of construction of a nuclear power plant or
other nuclear installation involves much more than the construction work.
Account must be taken of all activities to be conducted in the installation, during and
after its construction. This means that the authorities needs to decide whether the
location, design and construction of the installation are suitable, offering sufficient
protection of the public and the environment from any danger, damage or nuisance
associated with the activities that are to be conducted in the installation.
In practice, the procedure for issuing a license to operate an installation will be of
limited scope, unless major differences have arisen between the beginning, the
completion of construction work and the commissioning. For example, there may be a
considerable difference between the Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (which
provides the basis for the construction license) and the Final Safety Analysis Report
(for the operating license).
Views on matters of environmental protection may also have changed over the
intervening period.
Process and system for relicensing / license renewal
Some changes in installations and procedures do not require a license renewal, and
others do.
In the case of very minor modifications, the LH may use a special provision in the Act
(Article 17 section 4) that allows such modifications to be made with a minor license
change. This instrument can only be used if the consequences of the modification for
individuals, society and the environment are within the limits of the license in force.
The notification is published and is open to appeal.
With modifications that are not considered minor by the RB, license renewal is
needed. The LH will have to update its Safety Analysis Report and supporting
documents and submit these to the RB for regulatory review. Under certain
circumstances described in the annexes C and D of the EIA Decree, there is also an
obligation to conduct an EIA. As with any license application, public can express its
views as is the case with ‘normal’ license applications.
Decommissioning
For the decommissioning of nuclear facilities a license is required in a similar way. The
requirements to the application are specified in the Bkse Decree and associated
subordinate regulation.
Technical advances urging chance of license conditions
A special possibility for the RB provided for by Article 18a of the Nuclear Energy Act, is
to change the conditions in a license because of numerous technical advances or new
possibilities to protect the population that have become available since the original
license was issued.

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Prohibition to operate a facility without a license

Article 15, sub b of the Nuclear Energy Act constitutes an absolute prohibition to
construct, commission, operate, decommission or modify a nuclear facility, including a
spent fuel or radioactive waste management facility, without a license.
Environmental Impact Assessment, Safety Assessment, and processing
comments of stakeholders

Under certain circumstances together with a license application, it is compulsory to
conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment or EIA (Dutch: milieu-effectrapportage,
m.e.r.). It is for instance compulsory for all new reactors with a thermal power higher
than 1 kW. The Netherlands has a permanent commission, the Commission for
Environmental Impact Assessment (‘Commissie voor de m.e.r.’) that advises the RB on
the requirements of all EIAs conducted in the Netherlands, including those related to
nuclear facilities.
The EIA-procedure (chapter 7 of the Environmental Management Act) is:
• The initiator notifies the competent authority of his intention.
• The public can express its view on the scope of the envisaged EIA.
• An independent external committee advises on the content of the EIA for the
initiative, taking into account the views of the public.
• The competent authority draws up a memorandum on the scope and the
level of detail to be developed in the EIA, taking into account the views of the
public.
• The initiator draws up the EIA.
• The independent external committee advices on the environmental report in
relation to the memorandum on the scope and level of detail and the views
of the public.
Prior to the license application, the RB and the initiator enter into a stage of informal
dialogue. During this stage, the concept for the application, the EIA (if applicable), and
the Safety Assessment Report (SAR) are reviewed.
The initiator submits the application and the documents (including the EIA if
applicable) and information pertaining to it. The RB assesses the application and
draws up a draft decision. The public can express its views on the draft, and, if
applicable, on the EIA.
Subsequently the RB draws up the final decision taking into account the submitted
views. Finally, interested parties can lodge an appeal at the Administrative Law
Judicial Division of the Council of State.
The RB will consider all views expressed by the public. When appropriate, it will group
the views into a number of unique topics/views. The RB then will respond to all
unique views and all responses are recorded with the documentation of the definite
license.
Common responses of the RB include elaborations on policies, (assessment)
techniques or other issues that need clarification.
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5.1.d System of inspections, audits, assessments and evaluation

See section 5.1.e.
5.1.e Institutional control, regulatory inspection and documentation and
reporting

Article 58 of the Nuclear Energy Act gives the basis for entrusting designated officials
with the task of performing assessment, inspection and enforcement. The Decree on
Supervision22 identifies the bodies that have responsibilities in this regard. More
about the organisation of the RB can be found in the text on Article 20.
Inspections are planned and results of inspections are reported on by the RB. The
function of regulatory inspections is:
• to check that the LH is acting in compliance with the regulations and
conditions set out in the law, the license, the safety analysis report, the
Technical Specifications and any self-imposed requirements;
• to report any violation of the license conditions and, if necessary, to initiate
enforcement action;
• to check that the LH is conducting its activities in accordance with its QA
system;
• to check that the LH is conducting its activities in accordance with the best
technical means and/or accepted industry standards.
Inspection activities are supplemented by international safety review missions. An
important piece of information for inspection is the safety evaluation report, which is
to be periodically updated. In this report the LH presents its self-assessment of all the
relevant technical, organisational, personnel and administrative matters.
The management of inspection is supported by a yearly planning, the reporting of the
inspections and the follow-up actions. Dependent on the type of facility and with a
certain periodicity, meetings between facility management and RB are held. These
meetings are devoted to inspections and inspection findings during which any
necessary remedial actions are established and the progress made with their
execution is discussed.
The ministerial decree on nuclear safety of nuclear installations requires continuous
improvement of (nuclear) safety and the execution of periodic safety reviews. In line
with this, the LH of the spent fuel and radioactive waste management facility (COVRA)
carries out periodic safety reviews as required by the license:
•

•

22

Every 5 years an assessment of the activities and accomplishments in the area
of safety, waste management and radiation protection is performed against
the license requirements to conclude about eventual shortcomings and
possibilities to improve;
Every 10 years an comprehensive assessment is performed, where the design,
operation, procedures and organisation is compared with current/modern
(inter)national standards in order to find reasonably achievable
improvements.

Dutch: ‘Besluit aanwijzing en taakvervulling toezichthouders Kernenergiewet’

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Enforcement actions

If the ANVS identifies serious shortcoming in the actual operation of an installation or
in an activity, the ANVS is empowered to take all measures as deemed necessary. The
ANVS may modify, add or revoke restrictions and conditions in the license in order to
protect man and environment. The ANVS is even empowered to withdraw the license,
if this is required in order to protect those interests. Regulations offer to the ANVS the
possibility of using administrative enforcement, sometimes with a reference to the
Wabo.
The General Administrative Law Act (Awb) provide a further description of ‘Order
subject to administrative enforcement’ granting the authority the power to impose an
administrative enforcement order subject to a penalty.
Article 18a of the Nuclear Energy Act empowers the ANVS to compel the LH to
cooperate in a process of total revision and updating of the license. This will be
necessary if, for instance, the license has become outdated in the light of numerous
technical advances or if new possibilities to even better protect the population have
become available since the license was issued.
The ANVS has published its ‘Oversight and Intervention Strategy’ on its website in
2017 to inform all LHs. Among others the strategy describes the means of intervention
available, a set of administrative proceedings and criminal proceedings. Also in these
administrative proceedings a graded approach is applied starting with formally
addressing the LH, placing the LH under intense supervision, imposing an order
subject to a penalty for noncompliance, an administrative enforcement order and
finally revoking of the license. As part of the criminal proceedings, staff of the ANVS
can impose a fine on a LH or prepare an official report for the public prosecutor,
should the need occur.
5.1.f A clear allocation of responsibilities of the bodies involved in the
different steps of spent fuel and of radioactive waste management

The LHs hold prime responsibility for the safe management of SF and radioactive
waste generated by them, as explained in section B and G. However, as soon these
materials are transferred to COVRA, responsibility for safe management of the waste
and SF lies with COVRA.
The RB is described in detail in the text under section F. The RB advices on policy and
prepares regulation in respect of the safe management of spent fuel and radioactive
waste. The RB issues licenses and ensures compliance with applicable conditions from
regulations and licenses.
Almost all 23 of the waste management activities have been centralised in one waste
management organisation, COVRA. After accepting the radioactive waste COVRA is
responsible for all further stages of radioactive waste management including disposal.
This ensures clarity on the responsibility for those stages. The central collection,

23

NORM subject to notification is managed at one of two designated landfills.

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processing and storage of radioactive waste also ensures implementation of key
aspects such as environmental hygiene, cost effectiveness and industrial hygiene. In
addition, COVRA collects and manages the funds for the long-term above-ground
storage and final disposal.
5.1.g National requirements for public information and participation

The General Administrative Law Act (Awb) is the item of legislation that among
other points regulates public interaction in the procedures. The Awb applies to the
procedures of practically every law. The Awb also provides for the procedures for the
publication of information about draft decisions, for example a decision to grant a
licence. Such issues must be published in the Netherlands Government Gazette and
in the national and local media. According to the Awb, the documentation for a
licence application must be made available to the public. Every member of the public
is permitted to present his or her views on the application and to demand a hearing.
In what is known as the Publication Act, specific requirements are laid down for the
publication of new regulations. All new regulations are published on the Internet, in
the Bulletin of Acts and Decrees and in the Government Gazette.
More information on this is also available in section J.
5.1.h Financing schemes for the management of spent fuel and radioactive
waste – legal framework
Part of Dutch policy in respect of the financing of waste management is the principle
of ‘the polluter pays’. This principle also applies to the management of spent fuel
and radioactive waste.
Legislation therefore includes requirements for governing the securing by licence
holders of the financing for dismantling of their nuclear reactors.
For operators working with large volumes of scrap or with high level radioactive
sources, regulations do apply for the financial security of management.
5.2 Improvement of the national framework
Operational experience, national and international

The ANVS continuously monitors its own activities. The ANVS monitors and evaluates
the operations of the Dutch licence holders. Wherever conclusions can be drawn,
lessons learned must be used for developing new policy, new regulations or amending
licensing conditions.
There are regular bilateral contacts with authorities in European countries and the
United States, whereby operational experience is exchanged. Within the EU, via the
ANVS, the Netherlands is represented in the working groups of WENRA, ENSREG and
HERCA. Representatives of the authority also participate in the activities of other
international working groups under the auspices of the IAEA and/or NEA. The ANVS
also participates in international Peer Review activities, see section L.

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Documented decision-making processes

The ANVS has documented decision-making processes. However, the ANVS is a
learning organisation and attempts to improve constantly its decision-making
processes.
Technological developments and results of relevant research

The Nuclear Energy Act offers the competent RB the possibility to take the initiative to
adapt the scope of a licence and the accompanying licensing conditions, if new
technological insights make this necessary in the judgement of the authority.
For its policy preparation work, the ANVS uses evaluation of technological
developments and other studies, often undertaken by contracted parties.
Results of self-assessments and Peer Reviews

See section L, article 14.3.

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F. Competent regulatory authority

Article 6 – Competent regulatory authority
1. Each Member State shall establish and maintain a competent regulatory authority
in the field of safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management.
2. Member States shall ensure that the competent regulatory authority is functionally
separate from any other body or organisation concerned with the promotion or
utilisation of nuclear energy or radioactive material, including electricity production
and radioisotope applications, or with the management of spent fuel and radioactive
waste, in order to ensure effective independence from undue influence on its
regulatory function.
3. Member States shall ensure that the competent regulatory authority is given the
legal powers and human and financial resources necessary to fulfil its obligations in
connection with the national framework as described in Article 5(1)(b), (c), (d) and (e).

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6.1 Competent regulatory authority - ANVS

There is one large entity, the Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection
(ANVS), and some smaller entities at other ministries that together constitute the RB.
The tasks related to radioactive waste management are largely within the scope of
the ANVS only. Therefore this report often refers to the ANVS as the RB. The RB is the
authority designated by the government as having legal authority for conducting the
regulatory process, including issuing authorizations, inspection and enforcement and
thereby regulating nuclear, radiation, radioactive waste and transport safety, nuclear
security and safeguards.
All nuclear facilities in the Netherlands, including COVRA, operate under license,
awarded after a safety assessment has been carried out successfully. Licenses are
granted by the ANVS under the Nuclear Energy Act.
Legal status
The ANVS is an independent administrative authority, a so-called ZBO, with its own
legal authorities. The ANVS is independent in its regulation of nuclear safety and
security in the Netherlands, but the Minister of Infrastructure and Water
Management (I&W) bears ministerial responsibility for the ANVS and its functioning.
The legal basis for the functions of the competent regulatory authority appear in the
Nuclear Energy Act, Decrees, Regulations and regulations of the RB (ANVSregulations).
The ANVS brings together expertise in the fields of nuclear safety and radiation
protection, emergency preparedness as well as security and safeguards. For each of
these subjects, the ANVS is focused on preparing policy and legislation and
regulations, the awarding of licenses, supervision and enforcement and (public)
information. The ANVS contributes to safety studies and ensures that the Netherlands
is well prepared for possible radiation incidents.
Entities of the RB
Several ministers also have responsibilities in specific areas related to the use of
radioactivity and radiation under the Nuclear Energy Act, therefore there are still
various organisations that together constitute the RB. However, since beginning of
2015, most of the RB staff is employed at the ANVS.
Below the status and tasks of the entities of the RB for nuclear safety and radiation
protection are summarized:
•

The ANVS has a staff of approximately 130 fte, to be increased to 141
(including two members of the board). Its legal authorities include licensing
and independent supervision (safety assessment, inspection and
enforcement) of compliance by the LH(s) and other actors with the
requirements on the safety, security and nonproliferation. For some technical
and organisational issues it has the authority to formulate and issue
regulation (like NVRs and ANVS Guidelines). The ANVS supports the Minister
of I&W in the preparation of legislation, formulating policies and regulatory
requirements on nuclear safety, radiation protection, emergency
preparedness, security and safeguards. Furthermore it has responsibilities
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•
•
•

•
•
•

•
•

regarding public communication, international cooperation and knowledge
management regarding the areas of expertise mentioned above.
The Ministry of Social Affairs & Employment (SZW 24) has tasks in the area of
protection of the safety of workers against exposure to radiation.
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS 25) has tasks in the area of
protection of patients against exposure to radiation.
The ministry of Justice and Security is responsible for maintaining the rule of
law in the Netherlands. One of its topics is preventing crises and disasters, of
which public information on crises and disasters, and regional cooperation
during crises or disasters, are major themes.
The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. The Spatial Planning
department deals with national spatial policy with the associated (legal)
system responsibility and the effects on regions and areas.
The State Supervision of Mines (SodM, part of Ministry of Economic Affairs
and Climate Policy ) oversees the safe and environmentally sound exploration
and exploitation of natural resources like natural gas and oil.
The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA 26)
monitors food and consumer products to safeguard public health and animal
health and welfare. The NVWA controls the whole production chain, from raw
materials and processing aids to end products and consumption. The NVWA is
an independent agency in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and a delivery
agency for the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.
The Inspectorate of the Ministry of I&W (ILT 27) has general supervision
responsibilities for the compliance with the requirements of modal transport
regulations.
Minister of Defence has its inspectorate military healthcare (IMG 28) for
overseeing a healthy and safe work environment for the civilian and military
staff of the Ministry of Defence. Its scope includes applications of ionizing
radiation and accounting for the use of radioactive sources within the military.

Apart from the ANVS, most entities of the RB employ a limited number of staff for the
Kew-related tasks.
Collaboration agreement

In addition to day-to-day contacts between the entities of the RB, there is a
collaboration agreement on radiation protection between the ANVS and the policy
departments and inspectorates of other ministries with tasks under the Nuclear
Energy Act that are part of the RB 29. The Cooperation Agreement for Radiation
Protection (2017) describes the interaction, communication and cooperation between
different parts of the RB.
The Cooperation Agreement for Radiation Protection promotes the mutual
cooperation between the various parties who have statutory duties in the area of

Dutch: ‘ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid’ (SZW), i.e. ministry of social affairs and employment.
Dutch: ‘ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport’ (VWS), i.e. ministry of health, welfare and sport.
26
Dutch: ‘Nederlandse Voedsel en Waren Autoriteit’, NVWA.
27
Dutch: ‘Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport’, ILT
28
Dutch: ‘Inspectie Militaire Gezondheidszorg’, IMG
29
Signed on 28 September 2017
24
25

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radiation protection, in the light of providing adequate protection of the environment,
members of the public, employees and patients in the Netherlands. The Cooperation
Agreement sets out the framework for working arrangements, made between two or
more parties on the basis of the Cooperation Agreement. The working arrangements
relate to interdepartmental policy development and policy implementation, licensing,
supervision and enforcement, communication, research and education, and
participating and representation in international fora.
Advisory Board

The ANVS has appointed an Advisory Board on 17 April 2018. The board has the task
of providing the ANVS with solicited and unsolicited advice on matters related to the
tasks of the ANVS.
The board consists of independent experts from the Netherlands and abroad. They
have expertise in the areas of nuclear safety, radiation protection, security,
supervision and enforcement, and public administration. The members of the
Advisory Board are appointed until 30 June 2022.
6.2 Independency of the Regulatory Body regarding energy policy

The competent RB is in no way involved in the development of energy policy.
Development of the energy policy is carried out by the Ministry of Economic Affairs
and Climate Policy, which is not part of the RB.
Nuclear facilities - such as a waste storage facility like COVRA - operate under license,
awarded after a safety assessment has been carried out. The license is granted by the
ANVS under the Nuclear Energy Act. The ANVS is responsible for handling the license
applications and performing related review and assessment. The ANVS is legally
established as an independent regulator in the Nuclear Energy Act since August 1,
2017. The decisions taken by the ANVS on licensing, supervision and enforcement can
only be overruled by the Minister if they are conflicting with the law, not on the basis
of any other public interest.
The ANVS is also responsible for review and assessment activities in relation to its
oversight activities.
The ANVS may seek expertise by contracting TSOs and other national and/or foreign
expert organisations; this is a common practice.
6.3 Expertise and skills in nuclear safety & radiation protection at the RB

Consequences of the merger of former entities of the RB into the ANVS is a large
improvement for the development and maintenance of the human resources in most
disciplines. All primary functions of the ANVS benefit from that. On the other hand
being a larger and independent entity, the ANVS needs to develop its secondary
supporting processes.
Recently, it has been decided that the ANVS will also be responsible for assessing and
advising about a number of financial issues, amongst others the financing of
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decommissioning. So this discipline is being developed. For areas in which its
competence is not sufficient or where a specific in-depth analysis is needed, the ANVS
has a budget at its disposal for contracting external specialists.
The RB provides tailor-made training for its staff. A strategic HRM-plan is under
development, including related training and qualification programmes.
Apart from the general courses, training dedicated to the technical discipline is
provided. This includes international workshops, but also conferences and visits to
other regulatory bodies. In addition there is information exchange through the
international networks of IAEA, EU, OECD/NEA etc. To be mentioned are the
contributions to WENRA, ENSREG, HERCA, WASSC, TRANSSC, NUSSC, RASSC, EPReSC,
NEA/RWMC, CRPPH and several of its Working Groups.
Financial & Human Resources

From 2015 ANVS started with a dedicated budget within the national budget. The
starting point of its budget was the sum of the budgets of the merged entities. The
budget is awarded by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and
totals € 29.1 million (2018). Of this budget about € 10.5 million is spent on contracted
support provided by organisations like RIVM, GRS and NRG.
Legal powers

The statutory basis for the activities of the competent RB appears in the Nuclear
Energy Act. The tasks and authorities of the authority are laid down in underlying
regulations.
The correct management of the process of licensing according to the Nuclear Energy
Act has been mandated to the ANVS. For more information, see section 5.1.c. The
authority also formulates additional licensing conditions, at licence level, that apply
alongside the rules generally applicable according to the Nuclear Energy Act. See
section 5.1.c. and elsewhere.
Licences may have to be amended due to initiatives by licence holders, or as a result
of new insights that force the authority to make changes. See section 5.1.c. and
elsewhere.
Via enforcement procedures, if serious shortcomings are observed at a licence holder,
the authority can take any measure considered necessary by the authority in that
situation. See section 5.1.e.

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G. License holders (Article 7)

Article 7 – Licence holders
1. Member States shall ensure that the prime responsibility for the safety of spent
fuel and radioactive waste management facilities and/or activities rest with the
licence holder. That responsibility can not be delegated.
2. Member States shall ensure that the national framework in place require licence
holders, under the regulatory control of the competent regulatory authority, to
regularly assess, verify and continuously improve, as far as is reasonably achievable,
the safety of the radioactive waste and spent fuel management facility or activity in
a systematic and verifiable manner. This shall be achieved through an appropriate
safety assessment, other arguments and evidence.
3. As part of the licensing of a facility or activity the safety demonstration shall cover
the development and operation of an activity and the development, operation and
decommissioning of a facility or closure of a disposal facility as well as the post‐
closure phase of a disposal facility. The extent of the safety demonstration shall be
commensurate with the complexity of the operation and the magnitude of the
hazards associated with the radioactive waste and spent fuel, and the facility or
activity. The licensing process shall contribute to safety in the facility or activity
during normal operating conditions, anticipated operational occurrences and design
basis accidents. It shall provide the required assurance of safety in the facility or
activity. Measures shall be in place to prevent accidents and mitigate the
consequences of accidents, including verification of physical barriers and the licence
holder’s administrative protection procedures that would have to fail before workers
and the general public would be significantly affected by ionising radiation. That
approach shall identify and reduce uncertainties.
4. Member States shall ensure that the national framework require licence holders
to establish and implement integrated management systems, including quality
assurance, which give due priority for overall management of spent fuel and
radioactive waste to safety and are regularly verified by the competent regulatory
authority.
5. Member States shall ensure that the national framework require licence holders
to provide for and maintain adequate financial and human resources to fulfil their
obligations with respect to the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste
management as laid down in paragraphs 1 to 4.

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7.1 Prime responsibility for safe management of spent fuel and radioactive
waste

Several legal provisions ensure that the LH is primarily responsible for the safe
management of radioactive waste and spent fuel. However as soon these materials
are transferred to COVRA, responsibility for safe management lies with this
organisation.
The Netherlands has transposed Directive 2009/71/Euratom and Directive
2014/87/Euratom establishing a Community framework for the nuclear safety of
nuclear installations. The same is valid for Directive 2011/70/Euratom establishing a
Community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and
radioactive waste as well as for Directive 2013/59/Euratom laying down basic safety
standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising
radiation. Articles of the Directives states that the prime responsibility lies with the
LH. This includes the requirement to develop an institutional safety policy at the
corporate level and pursue continuous improvement. In the regulation transposing
Directive 2014/87/Euratom it has been further stipulated that the responsibility for
the safety of radioactive waste and spent fuel management cannot be delegated and
includes responsibility for the activities of contractors and sub-contractors whose
activities might affect the nuclear safety of a nuclear installation.
A further elaboration can also be found in the Governmental Decree on Basic Safety
Standards for Radiation Protection (Bbs), as the licence holder is required to keep
exposure of the population and workers as a result of its activities as low as
reasonably achievable. There are many regulations in the Bss that specify "The
operator ensures that ..... ". The Bbs also includes requirements in respect of the
competence of the operator or licence holder.
The Nuclear Energy Act (Articles 15 and 29) forbids practices with radioactive
materials (including radioactive waste and spent fuel) without a proper license. During
the license application procedure the prospective LH has to present, among others, a
safety case, which shall be assessed by the ANVS. Once the license is issued, the LH is
charged with the prime responsibility for compliance with the license and license
requirements. Besides this, a number of general requirements apply for LHs.
Regarding the operation or decommissioning of a nuclear facility, a similar reasoning
applies, based on Article 15b of the Nuclear Energy Act. The associated license covers
both the safety of the facility as well as the safety of the waste or spent fuel.
Article 70 of the Nuclear Energy Act specifies that a license issued according to this
Act is personal. In case of a license transfer this regulation requires that the new LH
needs to have the necessary expertise and reliability in relation to safety. Reliability in
relation to safety can also be related to financial solvency.
From the moment radioactive material is classified as waste, a number of additional
requirements apply. The most important requirement is that the waste shall be
transferred to COVRA as soon as reasonably possible. Upon delivery of the waste the
supplier pays COVRA the stipulated (contractual) tariff, which serves to cover the
costs arising from the services of the entire management cycle (from transport,
processing, storage to final disposal) based on the current insights. COVRA takes legal
ownership and thereby the responsibility for the radioactive waste. This prevents
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waste suppliers from being unable to meet their obligations in the future in the event
of financial problems. COVRA thus mitigates the risks that could arise from a possible
future bankruptcy of waste producers.
Producers of waste may keep radioactive material with a half-life shorter than 100
days at their own site for a maximum of two years, with the purpose to have the
material decayed below the threshold limits. This would make the material suitable
for reusing purposes, in which case the material is not defined as waste.
Radioactive waste policy
As already outlined in the Introduction to this report, the radioactive waste policy ties
in with the policy in respect of conventional waste. In the conventional waste policy,
responsibility for the sound management of the waste streams is placed primarily
with the waste generator. The same applies for the management of spent fuel and
radioactive waste.
7.2 Safety assessment

In section 5.1.b of this report the national regulations for the safe management of
spent fuel and radioactive waste are already explained. Section 5.1.c explains the
related licensing system. Appropriate control and enforcement by government are
discussed in section E, article 5.1.d and 5.1.e.
A license for a waste management facility is only granted if the applicant complies
with the national requirements and, more in general, with international (IAEA)
established safety goals, codes and guides, as well as with the international state of
the art for its facility. The applicable parts of the IAEA Safety Standards (Safety
Fundamentals, Safety Requirements and Safety Guides) must be covered or
incorporated in the Safety Report (SR), which is submitted to the ANVS. A typical
example is compliance with the requirements addressing the site-specific external
hazards, such as military aircraft crashes, external flooding, seismic events and gas
cloud explosions.
After obtaining the license but before construction, the LH drafts and submits to the
ANVS the Safety Analysis Report (SAR) and supporting topical reports. In these reports
detailed descriptions of the facility are presented as well as an in-depth analysis of the
way in which the facility meets the requirements and the international state of the
art.
After construction and commissioning of the waste management facility the LH
submits the SAR with a description of the as-built facility and the results of the
commissioning to the ANVS for approval before start of the routine operation. Since
full compliance is expected with the Safety Report, no formal update of the safety
assessment or environmental assessment is foreseen and there will be no need for
revision of the Safety Report, which is the basis of the license. However, all the results
of the commissioning programme are incorporated in a full update of the detailed
SAR.
As IAEA regulations are fairly general and hence lack technical detail, the licensing
basis for the HABOG building was based on the French state of the art for SF/HLW
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storage. As an independent assessment tool for the SAR the USA ANS/ANSI standard
57-9-1992 was incorporated.
Selected items or documents in the SAR are studied in more depth, often using
assessment by independent organizations. These key documents are submitted to the
ANVS for approval. Other documents are submitted for information only.
COVRA undergoes very extensive safety evaluations on a five-yearly and ten-yearly
cycle. The nuclear power plant in Borssele undergoes very extensive safety
evaluations every ten years, and more limited evaluations every two years, in which
the applicable basis for the licence is assessed.
Updated assessments before operation

In the Environmental Impact Assessment Decree 30, which is based on the EU Council
Directive 97/11/EC on “Assessment of the effects of certain public and private
projects on the environment”, spent fuel and radioactive waste management facilities
are designated as activities which are subject to the Decree. An Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) is always mandatory in the cases indicated in Table 6 below.

Table 6: Activities for which an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is mandatory
The facilities at COVRA meet the descriptions under the entries a and d and an EIA
had to be conducted. The first EIS for COVRA was published in 1985. The most recent
EIS was carried out in 2013 as a consequence of the extension of the HABOG facility
and the construction of a new storage building for depleted uranium (the VOG-2).
Both the EIS of 1985 and the subsequent EIS of 1995 and 2013 predicted that the
envisaged activities of the COVRA facility would not cause any detrimental effect on
the population and the environment.
The actual impact to the environment is even lower than assumed in the EIS, because
all emissions of radioactive materials and chemical hazardous materials – both
airborne and waterborne – remain far below the limits authorized in the operating

30

Environmental Impact Assessment Decree, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 1999, 224.

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licence. The successive annual reports of COVRA on releases and radiation levels at
the fence of the facility show that this favourable situation is continuing.
In addition to the update of the EIS in 2013, in 2014 the Safety Report was updated as
well.
Safety assessments of future facilities

A geological disposal facility is envisaged in 2130. Safety assessments will be carried
out at that time.
7.3 Demonstration of the safety of a facility or activity during the entire
lifecycle

Section 5.1.c of this report explains the applicable system of licensing. Appropriate
control and enforcement by the government are discussed in 5.1.d and 5.1.e.
The Nuclear Energy Act (Article 15b) specifies that a licence is needed for the
construction, operation and dismantling of nuclear installations – in other words, at
the start of each phase in the entire lifecycle. Licence applications include extensive
safety evaluations and the accompanying documentation. In these safety analyses,
attention is focused on organisational and technical arrangements that are aimed at
preventing accidents and mitigating the consequences of accidents.
The obligation to carry out periodic safety evaluations as described in section 7.2
helps ensure that during the entire lifecycle, the safety of a facility is regularly
demonstrated.
For nuclear power plants and research reactors, additional regulations apply that
compulsorily require the establishment of a dismantling plan and financial security
(for dismantling).
Annex 2 exemplifies how the HABOG facility at COVRA is safely managed and
assessed.
7.4 Integrated Management System and quality assurance
General

Due to the limited size of the nuclear industry, it was not cost-effective to develop a
specific national programme of QA rules and guidelines. As a consequence the
Netherlands have relied on IAEA guidance on QA. The current guide is the IAEA GS-R-3
“The management system for facilities and activities”. The implementation of GS-R-3
has been completed at the NPP Borssele and at COVRA this process will be concluded
in 2018. It is anticipated that the GS-R-3 will be replaced by another IAEA guide,
considering the development of the GSR Part 2 (2017).
The Ministerial Regulation on nuclear safety in implementation of European Directive
no. 2009/71, specifies in Article 5 that the licence holder must ensure that the
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management systems of the nuclear installation are drawn up and implemented in
such a way that sufficient priority is given to nuclear safety.
Nuclear Safety Rule NVR GS-R-3 ‘The Management System for Facilities and Activities’
requires that every licence holder adopts and employs a management system in
which priority is given to safety. The requirements in the NVR apply to all nuclear
facilities.
In the licences for installations, reference is also made to additional NVRs with more
detailed requirements on the management system, adapted to what is necessary for
those facilities.
License COVRA

At COVRA, provisions from the industrial standards NEN-ISO 9000 – 9004 have also
been implemented.
The Integrated Management System (IMS) of COVRA is part of the operating license
and hence is binding for the LH. Those parts of the IMS that apply specifically to
design and construction of the installations and to the safe operation of the spent fuel
and waste management facilities require prior approval from the RB.
The core of the system is the Integrated Management System Manual. This IMS
Manual contains:
• Internal policy statements of COVRA;
• The values and expectations of senior management;
• A description of the structure of the organization;
• A description on how the management system complies with the
requirements imposed on the organization;
• A description and flowchart of the processes as well as supporting
information that explain how work is to be prepared, reviewed, carried out,
recorded, assessed and improved.
7.5 Adequate financial and human resources at license holder

Nuclear Safety Rule NVR-GS-R-3 ‘The Management System for Facilities and Activities’
requires of the management of the organisation that it makes available those
resources needed for correctly implementing the activities of the organisation.
Resources also include the financial resources. The Ministerial Regulation on nuclear
safety in implementation of European Directive no. 2009/71 specifies in Article 7 that
the licence holder must have sufficient financial and human resources to comply with
the obligations in respect of nuclear safety of the nuclear installation under its
authority.
Financial resources

One of the principles of the national policy for the management of spent fuel and
radioactive waste is ‘the polluter pays’. All costs arising from radioactive waste
management must therefore be borne by the waste generator. There are private
agreements (contracts) between major producers of radioactive waste and COVRA.
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For the transfer of low level and intermediate level radioactive waste to COVRA, lists
of charges are published at COVRA’s website. Standard waste packaging is used, and
for this type of waste, COVRA is paid for each waste package received. The charges
already include the costs for disposal in a geological disposal facility at 2130 after
aboveground storage.
With respect to the management of spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste, the
operators of nuclear power plants and research reactors have jointly decided to build
a special storage facility, the HABOG. This building was commissioned on the COVRA
site in 2003. Both the construction costs and the operating costs are borne by the
waste generators.
The charges employed by COVRA are corrected annually by the price index. Every five
years, however, the charge structure is evaluated to determine whether structural
adjustments are needed.
Because for the time being disposal has been envisaged following a long period of
aboveground storage, the cost estimate for the construction and operation of a
national disposal facility has been updated within the OPERA research programme.
The funds for final disposal are managed by COVRA in a separate fund, on an account
held by the Ministry of Finance.
Decommission

As a consequence of the general accepted understanding that the "polluter pays
principle" applies, the operators of the nuclear reactors had made financial
reservations for decommissioning. The decommissioning funds are managed by the
utilities.
LHs of the NPP and RRs are required to have a financial provision to cover the costs of
decommissioning, which will have to be updated and approved by the authorities
every five year, when the decommissioning plan is updated. The LH is in principle free
to choose the form of the financial provision. Upon approval, the authorities will
assess whether the financial provision offers sufficient security that the
decommissioning costs are covered at the moment of decommissioning.
Certain license holders of non-nuclear facilities are obliged to submit a
decommissioning plan which contains a description of the required financial
provisions. An inadequate decommissioning plan is one of the grounds for not
granting a license. The decision which license holders are obliged to submit a
decommissioning plan is based on the nature and size of the radiological risks
involved (graded approach). The obligation for financial assurance for
decommissioning of major non-nuclear facilities is in a more preliminary phase and
currently being investigated.
Human resources

The Nuclear Energy Act specifies that a licence application must contain an estimate
of the number of staff required, and information about their tasks, responsibilities
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and where applicable qualifications. The Radiation Protection Decree also imposes
requirements on the competence of the staff.
The previously mentioned NVR-GS-R-3 safety rule ‘The Management System for
Facilities and Activities’ requires from the management of the organisation that it
makes the resources available needed for correctly implementing the activities of the
organisation. In NVR-GS-R-3, members of staff are included among the Resources,
together with such elements as infrastructure, working environment, information,
knowledge and material and financial resources. With any licence application, the
applicant must submit a training and education plan to the competent regulatory
authority.
The above referred to requirements also apply to COVRA and its facilities for the
management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. COVRA has drawn up a Staff
Qualification Plan that is part of the generic ‘Integrated Management System’. This
plan describes the numerous aspects of human resources such as responsibilities,
lines of communication, interfaces between various levels in the organisation, the
required level of expertise and the requirements in terms of education and training.
An elaborated training plan ensures that sufficient numbers of trained personnel with
sufficient expertise are always available. Any change to the organisation, for example
to the management, must be reported to the authorities.

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H. Expertise and skills (Article 8)

Article 8 – Expertise and skills
Member States shall ensure that the national framework require all parties to
make arrangements for education and training for their staff, as well as research
and development activities to cover the needs of the national programme for spent
fuel and radioactive waste management in order to obtain, maintain and to further
develop necessary expertise and skills.

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Expertise and skills in nuclear safety & radiation protection at the RB

Consequences of the merger of former entities of the RB
The merger of several entities into the ANVS is a large improvement for the
development and maintenance of the human resources in most disciplines. All
primary functions of the ANVS benefit from that. On the other hand being a larger and
independent entity, the ANVS needs to develop its secondary supporting processes.
Disciplines and training
The expertise of the RB spans disciplines such as radiation protection, waste
management, nuclear safety, risk assessment, security and safeguards, emergency
preparedness, legal and licensing aspects. Recently it has been decided that the ANVS
will also be responsible for assessing and advising on a number of financial issues,
amongst others the financing of decommissioning. So this discipline is being
developed.
Public Communication is a discipline that is further being developed. More
information on recent developments in this regard can be found in section J, article
10.1.
For areas in which its competence is not sufficient or where a specific in-depth
analysis is needed, the ANVS has a budget at its disposal for contracting external
specialists.
The ANVS cooperates with other national and regional authorities and organisations,
like the industrial safety inspectorate, the inspectorate of health, several safety
regions (including the regional fire brigades), provinces and communities, the national
coordinator for terrorism and public safety, and the national crisis centre. Also,
cooperation takes place with inspectorates in the domain of road transport
(dangerous good transport supervision at the ILT) and the domain of air transport
(safety culture/safety management).
The RB provides tailor-made training for its staff. A strategic HRM-plan is under
development, including related training and qualification programmes.
Apart from the general courses, training dedicated to the technical discipline is
provided. This includes international workshops, but also conferences and visits to
other regulatory bodies. In addition there is information exchange through the
international networks of IAEA, EU, OECD/NEA etc. To be mentioned are the
contributions to WENRA, ENSREG, HERCA, WASSC, TRANSSC, NUSSC, RASSC, EPReSC,
NEA/RWMC, CRPPH and several of its Working Groups.
Financial & Human Resources
From 2015 ANVS started with a dedicated budget within the national budget. The
starting point of its budget was the sum of the budgets of the merged entities. The
budget is awarded by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and
totals € 29.1 million (2018). Of this budget about € 10.5 million is spent on contracted
support provided by organisations like RIVM, GRS and NRG.
The role of the ANVS is growing. Therefore it was felt that the total number of staff to
make a robust and sustainable independent authority was not yet sufficient. During
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the IRRS mission of November 2014, IAEA recommended to assess the sufficiency of
the staffing levels of the RB. In 2016 the tasks and costs of the ANVS were evaluated,
including its required staffing level. Staff has grown the past few years from about 90
FTE to about 130 FTE, to be further increased to 141, including the two members of
the board.
Expertise and skills of the licence holders

See section G, article 7.5.
Research and development activities – OPERA

The results of Research Programme Disposal of Radioactive Waste (OPERA) have been
presented to the public in January 2018. The OPERA programme was coordinated by
COVRA and was funded by the National Government and EPZ (50/50, total €10
million). OPERA looked at the conditions and requirements that must be set for safe
disposal in Boom clay and not at specific locations. This has resulted in an initial Safety
Case. An initial Safety Case is the first step towards a safety study for a possible design
of a disposal facility for radioactive waste in Boom clay, which must then be
supplemented and worked out step by step. The results of OPERA give an indication
that a stable and robust disposal at 500 meters depth in the Boom clay in the
Netherlands is possible, although there are still uncertainties that need further
investigation. OPERA has included these uncertainties in a roadmap for follow-up
research.
Within OPERA the expected waste inventory in 2130 is further detailed and a cost
estimate has been made for the geological disposal in Boom clay (approximately 2
billion Euro, price level 2017). OPERA provides further insight into what it takes to
develop a Safety Case for geological disposal, how this can be further developed and
what expertise is needed in the long term to assess a Safety Case. These insights can
also be used during the drafting of initial Safety Cases for disposal of radioactive waste
in rock salt and Ypresian clay. The preparation of these Safety Cases is included in the
roadmap for follow-up research.
With the implementation of the directive, COVRA is obliged to finance the costs
incurred for future research and development for the management of radioactive
waste and spent fuel by charging on these costs via its tariffs.
Before the OPERA research programme, there have been other multiyear research
programmes on disposal in the Netherlands. See section K, article 12.1.f.

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I. Financial Resources (Article 9)

Article 9 – Financial resources
Member States shall ensure that the national framework require that adequate
financial resources be available when needed for the implementation of national
programmes referred to in Article 11, especially for the management of spent fuel and
radioactive waste, taking due account of the responsibility of spent fuel and
radioactive waste generators.

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9. Adequate financial resources

As explained in sections A and D, one of the basic principles governing radioactive
waste management is the ‘polluter pays’ principle. This principle requires that all costs
associated with radioactive waste management are borne by the organisations or
institutes responsible for the generation of this waste. This principle is fulfilled by the
fact that COVRA includes in its charges all estimated costs for processing, storage and
geological disposal, on the basis of the state-of-the-art knowledge.
After payment of the tariffs, the financial liability is transferred to COVRA. Allowance
should be made for the fact that the provisions COVRA has included in the balance
sheet reflect future liabilities in terms of real cost levels. Underlying assumptions are
an average inflation rate of 2% and a real interest rate of 2.3%. These parameters
translate into a target return of 4.3% on the financial resources for storage and
geological disposal. These provisions and underlying parameters are periodically
reviewed.
The cost of waste management can be roughly subdivided into storage costs and the
costs of geological disposal. The cost of the above-ground management of radioactive
waste at COVRA is estimated at approx. €7.5-8.5 million per year (excluding transport
and processing costs).
Moreover, the main producers of radioactive waste generally directly pay the
construction costs of the buildings in which their waste is stored; so these
construction costs are not included in the waste management tariffs. This applies for
example to the HABOG and VOG-2. COVRA has several long-term contracts with major
radioactive waste suppliers.
Details of the tariffs charged to small-scale suppliers are available to the public and
can be viewed at COVRA’s website. These tariffs are corrected annually by the price
index.
Research
With the implementation of Directive 2011/70/Euratom, the obligation to add a
surcharge to the tariffs of COVRA for future research of waste management has been
introduced. The final goal is to acquire the financial resources and knowledge needed
to have a geological disposal around 2130.
The CORA (2001) research programme produced a cost estimate for geological
disposal in salt and clay strata. The cost estimate for geological disposal in Boom Clay
has been updated in the OPERA research programme (approximately €2 billion).
COVRA is currently working on the basis of this cost estimate for geological disposal.
The provision for geological disposal currently on the COVRA balance sheet will
increase in the period up to 2130 (based on the forecasts for income from waste
producers, real growth and inflation) to an amount within the 25% bandwidth of the
target amount.
Financial resources for dismantling nuclear installations

The Netherlands has established arrangements that require nuclear power stations
and research reactors to have a dismantling plan and financial security (Nuclear
Energy Act, Article 15f). The financial security must be approved by the Ministers of
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Infrastructure and Water Management and Finance. The financial security guarantees
that even in the event of unexpected closure of business, sufficient financial resources
are available for the responsible dismantling of the installations.
Financial resources for other activities

For operators working with large volumes of scrap or highly active sources, there are
statutory obligations for securing the management of these potential waste flows.
A volume of historical radioactive waste that predates the establishment of COVRA in
Nieuwdorp is still present at the research location in Petten.. A project is ongoing to
transfer the historical waste to COVRA (more information on this project can be found
at Section A.). The costs for thistransfer are for the account of the owner of the
waste, Energieonderzoekscentrum Nederland (ECN). These costs include adapting
installations to make them suitable for repackaging the waste for transport, transport
to third parties and treatment of the waste at third parties, transport to COVRA and
the costs charged by COVRA for the storage and disposal of the waste.
As mentioned in section B, the Dutch government has recently undertaken the
following actions regarding the ongoing transfer of historical waste from Research
Location Petten to COVRA: it has appointed an official for stimulating cooperation and
chain optimization between involved parties; installed a steering group of Director
Generals of involved ministerial departments; and provided additional governmental
resources (117 million euro in 2018).
One disposal facility

Due to economies of scale, it is envisioned that all radioactive waste (including high-,
intermediate- and low-level radioactive waste) will be placed in a single geological
disposal facility. This will make a near surface depository for intermediate and low
level waste superfluous. NORM waste is safely managed as very low level waste at
one of the two licensed designated landfills.

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J. Transparency (Article 10)

Article 10 – Transparency
1. Member States shall ensure that necessary information on the management of
spent fuel and
radioactive waste be made available to workers and the general public. This
obligation includes ensuring that the competent regulatory authority inform the
public in the fields of its competence. Information shall be made available to the
public in accordance with national legislation and international obligations,
provided that this does not jeopardise other interests such as, inter alia, security,
recognized in national legislation or international obligations.
2. Member States shall ensure that the public be given the necessary opportunities
to participate
effectively in the decision‐ making process regarding spent fuel and radioactive
waste management in accordance with national legislation and international
obligations.

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10.1 Provision of information to the public and employees
General obligations

The General Administrative Law Act (Awb) is a piece of legislation that among other
things regulates the involvement of the public in the (licensing) procedures and the
publication of information on decisions and decrees. See section 5.1.g of this report
where this is described.
There is also a Publication Act that lays down requirements for the publication of new
regulations. All new regulations are published on the Internet and in the Bulletin of
Acts and Decrees and in the Government Gazette, following ratification by Parliament.
Ministries can also make their own additional arrangements to improve the
accessibility of their regulations.
The Dutch Government Information (Public Access) Act (Wob) specifies that
information managed by public bodies is in principle open to the public. Exceptions
are listed in Article 10 of the Wob, and relate to such issues as ‘State Security’ and
confidential commercial information. The Wob specifies that authorities must make
information public, unsolicited, because this is in the interests of good democratic
government. According to Article 3 of the Wob, any individual may request
information about an administrative issue. This information may be contained in
documents in the possession of public bodies or businesses carrying out work on
behalf of those public bodies.
Obligations in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection

Council directives emphasize for provision of information to the public and
employees. The transposition of Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom, establishing a
Community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and
radioactive waste and of Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom laying down basic safety
standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising
radiation and of Council Directive 2014/87/Euratom amending Directive
2009/71/Euratom establishing a Community framework for the nuclear safety of
nuclear installations provides for regulations to inform the public as well as
employees.
The Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management bears ministerial responsibility
for the ANVS and reports to Parliament. Everything reported to Parliament is
immediately available on the government website www.rijksoverheid.nl and is
therefore available to any interested party.
International reports, such as this report for the Directive, the national programme
and the report for the Joint Convention, are made available to any interested party via
reporting to Parliament and subsequently publication on the internet.
Communication strategy of the competent regulatory authority

General communication by the competent regulatory authority fulfils the statutory
requirements as described above.
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The ANVS has been mandated to implement the tasks of the authority. One of the
legally established tasks of the ANVS is informing and communicating to interested
parties and the public. The ANVS is transparent in its communication about its
strategy and decisions; decisions and background information relating to its activities
are published on the website. For example, the ANVS Vision Document
(‘koersdocument’), the strategy for inspection and enforcement, and the policy for
licensing have been published. This website is available in both Dutch and English.
More recently, the ANVS introduced a public portal on their website 31, providing
information about what the government does, and what people can do themselves, in
the event of a nuclear crisis or a radiation accident and, among other things, answers
questions about the safety and risks of nuclear reactors. A National Crisis Plan for
Radiation Incidents (NCS), and corresponding Response Plan NCS and Crisis
Communication Plan NCS can also be found on the website (in Dutch).
In 2017, the ANVS and Belgium’s regulatory body ‘FANC’ signed a cooperation
protocol. With this they have reaffirmed existing agreements and, where necessary
and possible, intensified existing cooperation. Because of the cross-border aspects of
the security policy and public communication, both organizations attach great
importance to an even better cooperation. In order to formalize, expand and
concretise the existing cooperation, agreements have now been laid down in a
protocol. These agreements are based on relevant guidelines from the European
Atomic Energy Community, Euratom. The cooperation protocol is available on the
ANVS-website 32.
Use of language
The ANVS is aware of the different backgrounds of interested groups and the public.
Ministries and the ANVS often publish both easy-to-ready press releases, questions
and answers, annual reports, manuals, as well as detailed specialists reports. From
certain international reports, summarised versions are available (in Dutch). The
majority of information addressed to the Dutch public (general public, employees of
public bodies, Parliament, etc.) is published in Dutch.
The national programme for waste and spent fuel is published in Dutch and in English.
Documents intended to be used in peer reviews, information intended for more
informed groups (experts) and colleagues in other countries are often published in
English.
Frequency of updating the information

Information about laws, regulations, licences and related decisions is published on the
government site as soon as it becomes available. In other words, this information is
constantly kept up to date.
The start of licensing procedures and the related information meetings are announced
in good time in major newspapers and on the Internet.

31
32

Accessible through this website: www.infonucleairrisico.nl (in Dutch)
https://www.autoriteitnvs.nl/documenten/publicatie/2017/09/14/samenwerkingsprotocol-fanc%E2%80%93-anvs

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Every reported incident is published on the Internet. An annual report is also
submitted to the Parliament containing an overview of registered incidents at nuclear
installations.
Information provision in emergencies

The Nuclear Energy Act (Article 43) provides for the issuing of information to
members of the public who could be affected by a nuclear accident. In line with the
responsibility for the response in emergency situations from the government, the
government is also responsible for information provision. In such situations,
information provision will be undertaken in close collaboration with local
governments in the threatened or affected area.
If there is a threat or an emergency situation that requires national coordination and
the intervention of different Ministries, the so-called National Crisis Centre (NCC) will
swing into action and establish a national crisis communication center.
The government websites contain information about the subject ‘crisis’. Information
can be found on many aspects of nuclear incidents. Another section of the
government websites is only available during a crisis and then for example will contain
a detailed list of questions and answers.
Handling non-publishable information

As is the case with all public bodies, the ANVS does comply with the requirements of
The Dutch Government Information (Public Access) Act (Wob). In Article 10, the Wob
offers a number of exceptions to public access to government information, as
described above.
10.2 Participation by the public in decision making

Participation by interested parties via public consultation during the licensing process
is laid down in the already mentioned Awb Act. Participation is also compulsory in the
procedures of an environmental impact report. The environmental impact report
procedure includes meetings where the licence holder, the authority (ANVS) and the
public participate. The public can present its views on proposed decisions, and the
competent body will respond in its rulings. There are opportunities for individual
citizens to appeal, if they disagree with a decision.
In drawing up regulations, public participation is effectively indirectly achieved via
Parliament.
With regards to the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, via the
procedures, the public is able to participate in the decision-making processes
involving licensing for installations in which spent fuel and/or radioactive waste are
managed. See section E, article 5.1.c., for more details on how the public is involved in
licensing procedures.

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Current policy does not envisage definitive disposal or site selection in the short term.
A decision on disposal is envisaged around the year 2100. Therefore, at present there
is no specific licensing procedure for a disposal facility yet.
For more information about decision making on disposal and public involvement in
that process, see chapter 6 of the national programme. This topic is also on the
agenda of the to be established Disposal Advisory Platform (DAP); see section B for
more information.

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K. Implementation of the national programme (Articles
11 and 12)
Article 11 – National programmes
1. Each Member State shall ensure the implementation of its national programme for the
management of spent fuel and radioactive waste (‘national programme’), covering all types of
spent fuel and radioactive waste under its jurisdiction and all stages of spent fuel and
radioactive waste management from generation to disposal.
2. Each Member State shall regularly review and update its national programme, taking into
account technical and scientific progress as appropriate as well as recommendations, lessons
learned and good practices from peer reviews.
Article 12 - Contents of national programmes
1. The national programmes shall set out how the Member States intend to implement their
national policies referred to in Article 4 for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel
and radioactive waste to secure the aims of this Directive, and shall include all of the following:
(a) the overall objectives of the Member State’s national policy in respect of spent fuel and
radioactive waste management;
(b) the significant milestones and clear timeframes for the achievement of those milestones in
light of the over‐ arching objectives of the national programme;
(c) an inventory of all spent fuel and radioactive waste and estimates for future quantities,
including those from decommissioning, clearly indicating the location and amount of the
radioactive waste and spent fuel in accordance with appropriate classification of the radioactive
waste;
(d) the concepts or plans and technical solutions for spent fuel and radioactive waste
management from generation to disposal;
(e) the concepts or plans for the post‐closure period of a disposal facility’s lifetime, including the
period during which appropriate controls are retained and the means to be employed to
preserve knowledge of that facility in the longer term;
(f) the research, development and demonstration activities that are needed in order to
implement solutions for the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste;
(g) the responsibility for the implementation of the national programme and the key
performance indicators to monitor progress towards implementation;
(h) an assessment of the national programme costs and the underlying basis and hypotheses for
that assessment, which must include a profile over time;
(i) the financing scheme(s) in force;
(j) a transparency policy or process as referred to in Article 10;
(k) if any, the agreement(s) concluded with a Member State or a third country on management
of spent fuel or radioactive waste, including on the use of disposal facilities.
2. The national programme together with the national policy may be contained in a single
document or in a number of documents.

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11.1 Implementation National Programme

The progress of implementation of the national programme is described below in the
section on Article 12 sub a, b and d through to k. The basis for dealing with the subarticles can be found in the national programme of the Netherlands.
11.2 Update National Programme

The Netherlands will update its national programme at least once every ten years.
This complies with the regulations of the Directive.
Article 12 - Contents of national programmes
The national program is publically available and can be found in Dutch and English
at www.anvs.nl. Background documents on which the national programme is based
are not part of the national programme.
12.1.a The overall objectives of the Member States’ national policy in
respect of radioactive waste and spent fuel management

The overall objectives of the policy on waste management appear among others in
the Introduction (section A) to this report and in part B (chapter 4) of the national
programme.
12.1.b The most significant milestones and clear timetables for the
achievement of those milestones in light of the overarching objectives of
the national programmes

The most important milestones and their timetable appear in the national programme
in paragraphs 7.1 and 7.2. These include:
•

Defining criteria for the start of the first environmental impact report: the
potential environmental effects of disposal must be considered in the
decision making, and this will take place in the future in the form of an
environmental impact report. The definition of criteria is planned for 2030.

•

Reporting on the implementation of the national programme; a national
report must be submitted in a three-yearly cycle to the Commission; this
report is the second to be submitted to the Commission.

•

The national programme is updated every ten years; the first version of the
programme was submitted to the Commission in 2016.

•

Drawing up a waste inventory: in the national report a waste inventory must
be included. The national report will be updated every three years.

•

Establishing a Disposal Advisory Platform: see section B.

•

Closure of the Borssele nuclear power plant: closure of the only nuclear
power plant still operational in the Netherlands is planned for 2033.
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•

Receipt of last waste from reprocessing of spent fuel in the Netherlands: is
envisaged at the latest in 2052.

•

End of period of aboveground storage at COVRA: the buildings at COVRA are
suitable for safely storing the radioactive waste for the next 100 years, and
thanks to periodic maintenance the lifecycle of these buildings can certainly
be extended to 300 years. Geological disposal is envisaged in 2130. Around
2100, a decision will be taken on the follow-up process.

12.1.c An inventory of all spent fuel and radioactive waste and estimates for
future quantities, including those from decommissioning, clearly indicating
the location and amount of the radioactive waste and spent fuel in
accordance with appropriate classification of the radioactive waste

See section C of this report.
12.1.d The concepts, plans and technical solutions for spent fuel and
radioactive waste management, from generation to disposal

The concepts, plans and technical solutions for management of SF and radioactive
waste appear in the national programme in section 4.3.
The Netherlands has opted for a single central organisation for the management of all
spent fuel and radioactive waste, at a single location. That is COVRA. The
aboveground storage buildings at COVRA comply with all applicable regulations on
nuclear safety and radiation protection. The policy assumes disposal of all radioactive
waste around 2130 in one geological disposal facility, with decision making envisaged
around the year 2100. For that reason, no definitive choice has been made for a
design or location of the disposal facility.
12.1.e The concepts or plans for the post-closure period of a disposal
facility’s lifetime, including the period during which appropriate controls are
retained and the means to be employed to preserve knowledge of that
facility in the longer term

The policy is that a decision will be taken around the year 2100. In paragraph 4.3.3. of
the national programme, it is said that for several decades, retrievability has been
included as a precondition in the policy for the management of radioactive waste in a
disposal facility. This means that the possibility for retrieving waste (packages) must
be included in the design of a facility, so that the retrievability of the waste (via the
existing shaft) must be possible at least during the use of the disposal facility. It will be
important to assess the optimum period of retrievability in due time, in order to enjoy
the greatest possible profit from the advantages of retrievability and the advantages
of a passive, safe (closed) disposal facility.
Until the disposal facility is definitely closed, each generation will be able to
reconsider whether the disposal facility should be kept open or closed. Following
definitive closure of the disposal facility, the waste will no longer be retrievable via
the original shafts. Given the development of drilling techniques, it will of course at all
times be possible to retrieve the waste, but the costs of retrieval could be very high.
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Experiences in countries in which a waste disposal facility is already operational, can
be taken into account.
The importance to preserve knowledge is fully recognized. In the National Programme
it is said (in paragraph 4.3.4) that “monitoring and knowledge assurance are relevant
at different moments of the process of creating a disposal facility. There are many
international developments in these fields, and a great deal of progress is expected,
because the first disposal facilities for high level radioactive waste have not yet been
commissioned. It is important that the Netherlands remains up to date on these
developments. This is achieved in the Netherlands through research, tying in with
international studies and consultation groups in which the knowledge and results are
shared. Annex E provides more information about monitoring, knowledge assurance
and research.”
12.1.f The research, development and demonstration activities that are
needed in order to implement solutions for the management of spent fuel
and radioactive waste

The Netherlands has a history of several national research programmes into disposal.
Two programmes from the past were OPLA 33 (1985 – 1993) and CORA 34 (1996 –
2000). The results of Research Programme on disposal of radioactive waste in Boom
Clay (OPERA, 2011-2017) have been presented to the public in January 2018. More
information on OPERA is available in section H.
In the past, Dutch researchers participated in experiments in Germany (in salt
formations). At present there is collaboration in underground facilities in Belgium
(clay).
12.1.g The responsibility for the implementation of the national programme
and the key performance indicators to monitor progress towards
implementation

Advice on policy and preparation of regulation for the implementation of the national
programme is done by the ANVS, in its advisory role to the Minister of I&W.
The three performance indicators below show the current status of progress of the
national programme:
1. Financing – the available sum for disposal must be sufficient for the
preparation, construction, operation and closure of the disposal facilities.

COVRA charges a (contractual) tariff for all phases of the management of Dutch
radioactive wastes, including the operational cost for disposal, with the objective of
having sufficient financial resources for the operation of a GDF around 2130 . In the 7year research programme, OPERA, an updated estimate of the cost of disposal was
made. The total cost for disposal in 2130 are estimated to be 2.05 billion in 2017
Euros. At December 31, 2017, the provision for disposal at COVRA amounted
€89.550.000 million.
33
34

OPLA: OPberging te Land (Land-based storage)
CORA: Commissie Opberging Radioactief Afval (Commission for the Storage of Radioactive Waste)

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Figure 6: cost estimates of geological disposal as reported in OPERA (2017)

2. Status of action points / milestones as mentioned in nationale
programme

Action points
Status
From chapter 7.1.1 of the national programme
The transfer of historical radioactive
In progress; see section B.
waste from Petten to COVRA.
Release thresholds for materials,
Accomplished. The completion and
buildings and sites.
publication of a guide for the release
of materials, buildings and sites
following dismantling of a nuclear
installation was finalised by 31
December 2017.
Guide and licencing regulations for
In progress. A guide for dismantling
dismantling of non-nuclear
of non-nuclear applications is
applications.
expected by the end of
2018/beginning of 2019.
Decay storage.
Accomplished. Current practice:
licence holders may store their
radioactive material for 2 years at
their own site. COVRA used to offer
the possibility to store materials at
their facilities for 25 years to decay
below the clearance levels, without
being reprocessed, but has extended
this period to 50 years. During decay
storage, materials can decay to
below the release threshold, and
then be safely released for reuse or
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discharged to a conventional waste
processor.
Imposing rules on import and export,
storage and disposal of radioactive
waste from abroad.

Financial aspects in the
decommissioning plan of a facility.

Policy in progress. Research has been
done by the National Institute of
Public Health and the Environment
on secondary waste, and regulation
of imports of NORM residues in
surrounding countries.
Modification of legislation for
nuclear facilities is in progress. See
section E, page 29. Modification of
legislation for non-nuclear facilities is
in a more preliminary phase and
currently being investigated. See
section G, article 7.5.a.
In progress. The Bbs was
implemented in February 2018.

Investigating the consequences of
new European basic standards on the
volume of radioactive waste.
From chapter 7.1.2 of the national programme
Environmental impact assessment of
On schedule, planned to be finalised
disposal
at the end of 2030.
Reporting on implementation of the
Every three years in this report.
national programme.
Updating the national programme on First update of the NP is planned for
radioactive waste.
2026, ten years after the first NP.
Drawing up a waste inventory.
Accomplished. See section C.
Appointing a consultation group.
In progress. The establishment of a
Disposal Advisory Platform was
adopted by Parliament. See section B
and M.
Analysis of online debate.
Start and frequency to be
determined by the Disposal Advisory
Platform.

3. Capacity of COVRA – the storage capacity at COVRA must be sufficient for
the expected volume of radioactive waste in the Netherlands.

COVRA has a site available of about 25 ha at the harbour and industrial area of
Vlissingen-Oost. The current storage capacity at COVRA has been dimensioned to
handle the expected Dutch demand for storage capacity for the coming period of at
least 100 years. Buildings are constructed in a modular fashion, so new capacity can
be added when needed. In 2017, a new building for the storage of depleted uranium
(VOG-2) has been constructed and commissioned (Figure 7 below).

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Figure 7: Map of waste management facilities at COVRA

Currently, work on the extension of the orange HLW building (HABOG) has started.
When the construction is finished (2021), the capacity has increased from three to
five storage modules (one spare module) for heat-generating HLW (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Visualization of extension of HABOG at COVRA.

12.1.h An assessment of the national programme costs and the underlying
basis and hypotheses for the assessment, which must include a profile over
time

The largest future cost item for the national programme is the realisation of a national
disposal facility around 2130. The applicable financing arrangements are provided in
section I of this report.

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12.1.i The financing scheme(s) in force

Information on the adequate financing schemes for the management now and in the
future of spent fuel and radioactive waste, the financing of research into disposal, and
for the dismantling of nuclear installations is provided in section I of this report.
12.1.j A transparency policy or process as referred to in Article 10

This national report discusses transparency in section J, as well as how transparency is
anchored in legislation and regulations in the communication policy of the ANVS.
COVRA, an important partner to the national programme, operates a transparency
policy in which communication with the public is very proactive.
12.1.k If any, the agreement(s) concluded with a Member State or a third
country on management of spent fuel or radioactive waste, including on the
use of disposal facilities

In 2012, a treaty was signed by the Republic of France and the Netherlands that
regulates the receipt and reprocessing by ORANO in France of Dutch spent fuel and
the return to the Netherlands of the radioactive residues from reprocessing at the
latest in 2052.

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L. Peer reviews and self-assessments (Article 14.3)

Article 14 – Reporting
3. Member States shall periodically, and at least every 10 years, arrange for
self‐assessments of their national framework, competent regulatory authority,
national programme and its implementation, and invite international peer review
of their national framework, competent regulatory authority and/or national
programme with the aim of ensuring that high safety standards are achieved in
the safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. The outcomes of any
peer review shall be reported to the Commission and the other Member States,
and may be made available to the public where there is no conflict with security
and proprietary information.

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14.3 Results of self-assessments and Peer Reviews
Competent regulatory authority

Although there are no explicitly formulated legal requirements, current practice is
that the expertise and effectiveness of the competent regulatory authority must be
regularly evaluated. The resultant follow-up actions ensure that the authority remains
effective.
Recently (2013 – 2014), the authority undertook a major self-assessment in the
framework of an IRRS mission of the IAEA, which was concluded at the end of 2014.
The findings of this assessment supported the Dutch effort to establish a single entity
for the competent RB in which all necessary knowledge and expertise about nuclear
safety and radiation protection have been brought together. Prior to 2015, the tasks
of the authority were undertaken by various mandated entities in different Ministries.
The recommendations of the IRRS will be taken up in the framework of the ANVS. A
follow-up mission of the IAEA is scheduled for November 2018 to assess how the
IRRS-recommendations and suggestions have been implemented.
Representatives of the authority regularly participate in international missions (under
the auspices of the IAEA) in other countries. This too contributes to broadening
knowledge and understanding among the staff of the authority.
Licence holders of nuclear facilities

The Netherlands has a long tradition of Periodic Safety Evaluations, better known as
‘Periodic Safety Reviews’ (PSRs). These are largescale self-evaluations carried out by
licence holders. The PSRs are assessed by the ANVS. The obligation to carry out PSRs
has been included for more than 20 years in the licensing conditions, and for a slightly
shorter period in guidelines drawn up by the authority. Directive 2009/71/EURATOM
of 25 June 2009 on nuclear safety has also been implemented by a Ministerial
Regulation, and that arrangement also includes this obligation about PSRs.
Licence holders welcome Peer Review teams with some regularity, such as those
organised within the framework of WANO, or under the auspices of the International
Atomic Energy Agency of the UN, the IAEA. The results of review activities under the
auspices of the IAEA are always evaluated by the authority.
Peer review Joint Convention (May 2018)

The Netherlands has undergone a peer review during the sixth Joint Convention on
the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste
Management, in May 2018. Through this peer review process, the Netherlands
continues to improve the levels of safety related to spent fuel and radioactive waste
management. The results of the convention are summarised below.

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Closed challenges relative to the previous national report to the Joint Convention
(2015):
• Ensuring the availability of qualified and experienced staff at the waste
management organizations and the regulatory body:
o New staff at ANVS and COVRA
o Staff qualification and HRM plans
o Knowledge management
• Long-term knowledge management on radioactive waste management:
o One central organization responsible for the whole radioactive waste
management cycle
o Quality assurance system, double archive method to preserve
information
o Research has been done to develop an initial safety case
o International cooperation
Challenges which remained from the previous national report to the Joint Convention:
• Proceeding from storage to disposal including public acceptability
• Transfer of historical waste from Petten to COVRA
New challenges identified during the 2018 Joint Convention:
• Establishment of Disposal Advisory Platform (exact role, members, goals,
research agenda)
• Further development of decommissioning policy
Areas of good performance identified during the 2018 Joint Convention:
• Establishment of ANVS as a consolidated independent regulatory body
• Integration of technical aspects and societal involvement into radioactive
waste management
o Continuation of public engagement in current storage practices
o OPERA – research project (2011-2017); results presented at a public
symposium
o Pathfinder’s report for a societal process (2018)
o Route to disposal
• Upfront design of packages and facilities for long term storage (100 – 300
years)

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M. Future plans to improve safe and responsible
management of spent fuel and radioactive waste

Research

As mentioned in section H, article 8.3, OPERA provides further insight into what it
takes to develop a Safety Case for final disposal, how this can be further developed
and what expertise is needed in the long term to assess this. These insights can also
be used during the drafting of initial Safety Cases for disposal of radioactive waste in
rock salt and Ypresian clay. The preparation of these Safety Cases is also included in
the roadmap for follow-up research.
Public participation

As mentioned in section B, one of the recent developments is the planned
establishment of a Disposal Advisory Platform. After an exploratory phase into the
role, goals and agenda of a Disposal Advisory Platform, the preparations for the
establishment of the Platform have started. This group will be responsible for advising
on future decision-making and participation processes in radioactive waste
management during the route to geological disposal. The group is expected to be
established in 2018/2019.
Action points/milestones as mentioned in nationale programme

See section K, article 12.1.g.

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Annex

1. Overview matrix of liabilities and current policies and practices

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2. Safety demonstration HABOG facility at COVRA

SF from the RRs and reprocessing residues are stored in the HABOG facility at COVRA.
HABOG was commissioned in 2003. A schematic cross-section of the HABOG facility is
presented in the figure 8.

Figure 8: Cross-section of the HABOG facility

Figure 9: Storage wells for SF and HLW in the HABOG, with passive cooling
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The HABOG is a vault-type storage facility divided in two separate compartments. The
first compartment is used for the storage of canisters and other packages containing
high-level waste that does not need to be cooled (compacted hulls and ends and
other high-level radioactive waste). The second one is used for the storage of vitrified
HLW from reprocessed SF originating from the NPPs, for SF originating from the
research reactors and spent uranium targets from molybdenum production. SF and
spent uranium targets, and vitrified HLW are stacked on 5 levels in vertical air-cooled
storage wells. The storage wells are filled with an inert gas to prevent corrosion of the
canisters and are equipped with a double jacket to allow passage of cooling air. The
double jacket ensures that there is never direct contact between SF, spent targets or
waste canisters and the cooling air. The cooling system is based on the natural
convection concept and is one of the passive safety features of HABOG. A schematic
diagram of the storage compartment for SF and vitrified HLW is represented in Figure
9.
The leading principles of operational safety in the management of spent fuel (and
radioactive waste) are Isolation, Control and Monitoring.
For the design of the HABOG the guidelines from ANSI/ANS 57.9-1992 have been
applied. Broken down to the abovementioned operational safety principles the
following requirements should be fulfilled:
- Isolation
SF (or radioactive waste in general) should be contained in a way that at least two
barriers to the release of radioactive material are present.
Adequate shielding of the radiation emitted by the waste should be maintained.
- Control
A condition of sub-criticality of the spent fuel and targets by application of neutron
absorbers and by a suitable geometry of the spent fuel and targets have to be assured
as well as adequate cooling of heat-generating HLW.
It also has to be possible to move spent fuel and targets or HLW from the storage
wells with a view to repackaging, relocating to another storage compartment or
removal from the facility.
- Monitoring
The containment of the storage wells, the temperature of the wells, the shielding
capacity and the emissions by inspections and/or measurements have to be
monitored.
These requirements have been implemented in the following ways:
- Isolation
The presence of at least two containment barriers between the SF/HLW and the
environment is achieved by passive components, constructions and materials such as
the immobilization matrix of the material itself, by the packaging, by the storage wells
and by the construction of the building.
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Adequate shielding is achieved through the presence of 1.7 m thick concrete walls.
The HABOG facility is designed to withstand 15 different design-base accidents in
order to prevent consequences for the population or the environment. These design
base accidents include flooding, fire, explosions in the facility, earthquakes,
hurricanes, gas explosions outside the facility, an aircraft crash, a drop of a package
from a crane etc. A stress test has been performed for HABOG in 2013.
The robustness of the construction of the building ensures that none of these
accidents, whether arising from an internal cause or initiated by an external event,
will result in a significant radiological impact.
- Control
Sub-criticality is maintained by assuring that both under normal operating conditions
and under accident conditions the reactivity factor keff will never exceed a value of
0.95. Permanent cooling of the canisters with SF, spent targets and high-level
radioactive waste is assured by using a passive air convection system. Calculations
have demonstrated that the thermal specifications of the SF/HLW will never be
exceeded. The HABOG facility is laid out in such a way that there is always one spare
storage compartment for each category of waste available.
- Monitoring
HABOG has a passive cooling system for SF and HLW based on natural air convection.
The cooling air never comes in contact with the radioactive material or any
contaminated surfaces but is nevertheless monitored. HABOG has also a mechanical
ventilation system.
This system is designed to keep the building (except for the SF and HLW vaults) at an
underpressure. The air flow through the building is directed from areas with no
contamination towards areas with a potentially higher contamination. Both incoming
and outgoing air is monitored and filtered.
License to operate

After the commissioning of the HABOG, COVRA submitted the report with the
description of the as built-facility and the results of the commissioning to the ANVS
for approval. This document demonstrated full compliance with the license and the
associated Safety Report. During the first operational phase, when the storage
building was accepting its SF and HLW, the ANVS closely followed the safety of the
installation by inspections and assessment of the LH’s periodic operation reports.
For the long-term storage phase a license condition stipulates that the safety of the
installation shall be periodically reviewed in the light of operating experience and new
insights. A review of operational aspects shall be performed once every five years,
whilst a more fundamental review shall be conducted once every ten years. The latter
may involve a review of the facility’s design basis in the light of new developments in
research, safety thinking or risk acceptance.
According to Article 15, sub b of the Nuclear Energy Act licenses are required for
building, taking into operation and operating a nuclear installation. In the specific case
of a SF and radioactive waste management facility these licenses are usually granted
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by one ministerial decision. The issue of a license is conditional on a favourable
outcome of the review by the ANVS of the safety assessment of the facility and on a
favourable outcome of the EIA.
A safety assessment for the operation of a SF management facility is made by the
operator of the facility as part of the application for a license to operate the facility or
to modify the facility. The technical specifications and the assumptions underlying the
postulated accident scenarios are laid down in a Safety Analysis Report. It is the
responsibility of the operator to demonstrate to the ANVS that the situation as built is
in accordance with the technical specifications and that the safety requirements can
be met.
Technologies incorporated in the design and construction

For the HABOG technology, see the text under section 7.3. As regards the buildings for
the treatment and storage of LILW much experience has been acquired by
comparable waste management activities at the previous location in Petten.

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Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation
Protection
Postbus 16001 | 2500 BA Den Haag
www.anvs.nl
August 2018
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