An Overview of the Draft of ‘Nuclear Materials and Radioactive Waste Management Act’

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huan Lin ◽  
Tai-Wei Lan ◽  
Min-Tsang Chang ◽  
Wuu-Kune Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Nuclear Materials ◽  
Regulatory Body ◽  
Nuclear Facilities ◽  
Radioactive Waste Management ◽  
Regulatory Capacity ◽  
Concept Of Information ◽  
The Impact

The “Nuclear Materials and Radioactive Waste Management Act” (NMRWMA) in Taiwan has been in use since 2002. To promote further administrative efficiency and improve regulatory capacity, an amendment of the act has been initiated by the Atomic Energy Council (AEC). It is now being reviewed by outside experts and related communities so as to include the best understanding of risk management factors. For the future decommissioning challenges of nuclear facilities, the act is also being amended to comply with the regulatory requirements of the decommissioning mandates. Currently the Taiwan government is conducting government reorganization, and AEC will be reformed but will remain as an independent regulatory body. AEC will then be capable of improving the regulatory capacity for facilitating licensing and inspection, ensuring operational safety, environmental protection and public involvement, and giving a more flexible administrative discretion, such as expending the margin of penalty. The amendment is also required to provide a formal legal basis for the Nuclear Backend Fund, and to mandate the waste producers to take responsibility for any final debt repayment. In addition, this amendment promotes measures to prevent accidents or emergencies concerning radioactive materials and facilities and procedures to reduce the impact and effect of any unexpected events. Furthermore, this amendment intends to implement the concept of information transparency and public participation so as to meet the public needs. Finally, radioactive waste final disposal tasks have to be completed by waste producers under the supervision of the AEC.

Radioactive Waste Management Challenges and Progress in Iraq

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fouad Al-Musawi ◽  
Emad S. Shamsaldin ◽  
John R. Cochran
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Nuclear Research ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Nuclear Facilities ◽  
Radioactive Waste Management ◽  
The Government ◽  
Key Sites ◽  
Radioactive Waste Treatment

The government of Iraq, through the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) is decommissioning Iraq’s former nuclear facilities. The 18 former facilities at the Al-Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center near Baghdad include partially destroyed research reactors, a fuel fabrication facility and radioisotope production facilities. These 18 former facilities contain large numbers of silos and drums of uncharacterized radioactive waste and approximately 30 tanks that contain or did contain uncharacterized liquid radioactive wastes. Other key sites outside of Al Tuwaitha include facilities at Jesira (uranium processing and waste storage facility), Rashdiya (centrifuge facility) and Tarmiya (enrichment plant). The newly created Radioactive Waste Treatment Management Directorate (RWTMD) within MoST is responsible for Iraq’s centralized management of radioactive waste, including safe and secure disposal. In addition to being responsible for the uncharacterized wastes at Al Tuwaitha, the RWTMD will be responsible for future decommissioning wastes, approximately 900 disused sealed radioactive sources, and unknown quantities of NORM wastes from oil production in Iraq. This paper presents the challenges and progress that the RWTMD has made in setting-up a radioactive waste management program. The progress includes the establishment of a staffing structure, staff, participation in international training, rehabilitation of portions of the former Radioactive Waste Treatment Station at Al-Tuwaitha and the acquisition of equipment.

Building Capacity and Public Involvement Among Native American Communities

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan D. Hernandez ◽  
Mary E. Clark
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Native American ◽  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Uranium Mining ◽  
Radioactive Waste Management ◽  
Tribal Governments ◽  
The U.S

Abstract The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) supports a number of local community initiatives to encourage public involvement in decisions regarding environmental waste management and remediation. Native American tribal communities, in most cases, operate as sovereign nations, and thus have jurisdiction over environmental management on their lands. This paper provides examples of initiatives addressing Native American concerns about past radioactive waste management practices — one addresses uranium mining wastes in the Western United States and the other, environmental contamination in Alaska. These two projects involve the community in radioactive waste management decision-making by encouraging them to articulate their concerns and observations; soliciting their recommended solutions; and facilitating leadership within the community by involving local tribal governments, individuals, scientists and educators in the project. Frequently, a community organization, such as a local college or Native American organization, is selected to manage the project due to their cultural knowledge and acceptance within the community. It should be noted that U.S. EPA, consistent with Federal requirements, respects Indian tribal self-government and supports tribal sovereignty and self-determination. For this reason, in the projects and initiatives described in the presentation, the U.S. EPA is involved at the behest and approval of Native American tribal governments and community organizations. Objectives of the activities described in this presentation are to equip Native American communities with the skills and resources to assess and resolve environmental problems on their lands. Some of the key outcomes of these projects include: • Training teachers of Navajo Indian students to provide lessons about radiation and uranium mining in their communities. Teachers will use problem-based education, which allows students to connect the subject of learning with real-world issues and concerns of their community. Teachers are encouraged to utilize members of the community and to conduct field trips to make the material as relevant to the students. • Creating an interactive database that combines scientific and technical data from peer-reviewed literature along with complementary Native American community environmental observations. • Developing educational materials that meet the national science standards for education and also incorporate Native American culture, language, and history. The use of both Native American and Western (Euro-American) educational concepts serve to reinforce learning and support cultural identity. The two projects adopt approaches that are tailored to encourage the participation of, and leadership from, Native American communities to guide environmental waste management and remediation on their lands. These initiatives are consistent with the government-to-government relationship between Native American tribes and the U.S. government and support the principle that tribes are empowered to exercise their own decision-making authority with respect to their lands.

Radiation Safety Requirements for Radioactive Waste Management in the Framework of a Quality Management System

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Salgado ◽  
J. C. Beni´tez ◽  
R. Pernas ◽  
N. Gonza´lez
Keyword(s):  
Quality Management ◽  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Radiation Protection ◽  
Management System ◽  
Radiation Safety ◽  
Quality Management System ◽  
Regulatory Body ◽  
Radioactive Waste Management ◽  
Safety Requirements

The Center for Radiation Protection and Hygiene (CPHR) is the institution responsible for the management of radioactive wastes generated from nuclear applications in medicine, industry and research in Cuba. Radioactive Waste Management Service is provided at a national level and it includes the collection and transportation of radioactive wastes to the Centralized Waste Management Facilities, where they are characterized, segregated, treated, conditioned and stored. A Quality Management System, according to the ISO 9001 Standard has been implemented for the RWM Service at CPHR. The Management System includes the radiation safety requirements established for RWM in national regulations and in the License’s conditions. The role of the Regulatory Body and the Radiation Protection Officer in the Quality Management System, the authorization of practices, training and personal qualification, record keeping, inspections of the Regulatory Body and internal inspection of the Radiation Protection Officer, among other aspects, are described in this paper. The Quality Management System has shown to be an efficient tool to demonstrate that adequate measures are in place to ensure the safety in radioactive waste management activities and their continual improvement.

The Impact of Council Directive 2011/70/EURATOM and IAEA Joint Convention Review Meetings on the Ongoing Establishment of the Portuguese Regulatory Framework and on the Future of National Radioactive Waste

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Paiva ◽  
Romão B. Trindade
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Radiological Protection ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Radioactive Waste Management ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Council Directive ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

Council Directive 2011/70/EURATOM of 19 July 2011, establishing a Community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste will enter in force August 2013 in all EU Member States. Portugal has already started preparing its legislative framework to accommodate the new legislative piece. However, the first report of Portugal to the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management of the IAEA, in Vienna, 2012, has shown that Portugal still has many steps to overcome to establish a successful and effective basic regulatory framework. The existence of many competent authorities related to the radiological protection area and a newly independent commission that is still looking on how to fulfill its regulator role in other areas such as the radioactive waste management makes quite challenging the full application of the new directive as well as compliance that Portugal will have to show in the next Joint Convention review meeting in order to meet the obligations of the Convention. In this paper, the reality of the regulatory Portuguese framework on radiological protection, nuclear safety and radioactive waste management is presented. Discussion of the future impact of the new legislation and its consequences such as the need to setup the national program on radioactive waste management is critical discussed.

Radioactive Waste Management Plan for PMBR (Pty) Ltd Fuel Plant

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mosidi E. Makgae
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Radioactive Waste Management ◽  
The Public ◽  
International Good ◽  
The Impact

The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Pty) Ltd Fuel Plant (PFP) radioactive waste management plan caters for waste from generation, processing through storage and possible disposal. Generally, the amount of waste that will be generated from the PFP is Low and Intermediate Level Waste. The waste management plan outlines all waste streams and the management options for each stream. It also discusses how the Plant has been designed to ensure radioactive waste minimisation through recycling, recovery, reuse, treatment before considering disposal. Compliance to the proposed plan will ensure compliance with national legislative requirements and international good practice. The national and the overall waste management objective is to ensure that all PFP wastes are managed appropriately by capitalising on processes that minimise, reduce, recover and recycle without exposing employees, the public and the environment to unmitigated impacts. Both International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) principles act as a guide in the development of the strategy in order to ensure international best practice, legal compliance and ensuring that the impact of waste on employees, environment and the public is as low as reasonably achievable. The radioactive waste classification system stipulated in the Radioactive Waste Management Policy and Strategy 2005 will play an important role in classifying radioactive waste and ensuring that effective management is implemented for all waste streams be it gaseous, liquid or solid waste.

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