Operational aspects of the planned Swiss final repository for L/ILW

In Switzerland, the producers of nuclear waste are responsible for waste management. Hence, the electricity supply utilities involved in nuclear power production and the Swiss Confederation - which is responsible for the waste from medicine, industry and research - joined together in 1972 to form Nagra (National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste). Nagra is responsible for final disposal and related work; the responsibility for spent fuel reprocessing and transport, for waste conditioning and for interim storage remains with the utilities. According to Swiss Law, all radioactive wastes are to undergo final disposal in repositories situated in suitable geological formations. The repositories must fulfill the protection objectives of the competent Swiss authorities. This paper will give details of the operational aspects of the planned final repository for short-lived low-and intermediate level radioactive waste (L/ILW)