The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standards and recommendations on radioactive waste and transport safety

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) publishes standards and recommendations on all aspects of nuclear safety in its Safety Series, which includes radioactive waste management and transport of radioactive materials. Safety Series documents may be adopted by a State into its national legal framework. Most of the States used the IAEA transport regulations (Safety Series No. 6) as a basis for their national regulation. The two highest ranking documents of the Radioactive Waste Safety Standards (RADWASS) programme, the Safety Fundamentals and the Safety Standard on the national waste management system, have been published. Both provide impetus into the waste management safety convention, a legally binding document for signatory states, which is being drafted. The already existing Convention on Nuclear Safety covers the management of radioactive waste at land-based civil nuclear power plants. (author) 1 fig., 18 refs