Characterisation and documentation of radioactive waste in switzerland

Switzerland has radioactive waste from nuclear power plants and from medicine, industry and research (MIR). The characterisation and documentation of this waste has to meet the provisions given by the Swiss regulatory authorities in guideline HSK/R-14 including all information needed for a safe disposal in one of the future repositories. In order to meet these requirements we apply a sophisticated system of radiological measurements and extended activation calculations. In this paper we report on the inventarisation of waste packages with operational waste from the NPP by applying correlation factors and with activated components - including decommissioning waste - by a system of activation calculations. Finally we present results for reprocessing waste and spent fuel (MOX and UO2). All results are integrated into the computer-based ''information system for RAdioactive materials'' (ISRAM), which was developed to document the whole spectrum of Swiss radioactive waste and materials. This allows a complete monitoring and tracking of all radioactive materials produced or used in Switzerland. (orig.)