Maintaining knowledge of radioactive waste

Full text: [Knowledge - 'awareness or familiarity gained by experience (of a person, fact or thing)... a person's range of information ... the sum of what is known ... true, justified belief; certain understanding, as opposed to opinion.' The Oxford Concise English Dictionary.] Organisations responsible for the safe and effective management of radioactive waste will be aware of the value of information characterising the waste and the need for its preservation. In the United Kingdom the principal legal instrument controlling nuclear site activities is the Nuclear Installations Act (1990), which requires certain licence conditions to be fulfilled. One of the 35 conditions of the nuclear site licence demands that operators ensure that adequate records are kept relating to, inter alia, 'the location of all radioactive material, including nuclear fuel and radioactive waste'. Through the application of this licence condition, the relevant nuclear regulator, Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII), requires licensees to make arrangements for recording and preserving all the information that may be required in the future to ensure the safe management of radioactive material and radioactive waste. The majority of operators responsible for the long-term management of radioactive waste will establish systems for preserving information. In order for the system to deliver real benefits, there must be absolute clarity concerning what information is to be preserved, the reasons why it must be preserved, how it is to be managed over the long-term and who is responsible for its management. However, the decisive characteristic of this information management system that could make the difference between preserved liability and valued asset is the ability to access and interpret the information now and in the future. On first inspection, this characteristic appears obvious but how often are these systems established with the primary objective of preserving information when it should be ensuring future access to knowledge? Radioactive waste data, recorded in isolation, may have restricted value especially if its provenance is unknown, its significance is unclear, the originators cannot be consulted and its authenticity and trustworthiness are not verifiable. It is therefore necessary to combine this raw data with contextual information that will enable future generations to determine the significance of the record, distinguish it as valuable asset and create their own, contemporary knowledge base. Only when equipped with comprehensive, reliable and accurate knowledge will future generations have the confidence to make informed judgments about the impact of our waste on their society and environment. The mismanagement of our knowledge today could have significant repercussions in terms of cost, radiation dose and damage to the environment in the future. This presentation defines terms such as 'data', 'information', 'knowledge' and 'wisdom' and provides a simple model illustrating their relationship. This model is then used as the basis for an examination of the inputs and the ways in which they may be optimised. The nuclear industry, and even society, has developed an 'implicit' understanding of radioactive waste, at a variety of levels, and it may seem inconceivable that future societies would not retain this understanding in sufficient detail that it could adequately protect itself and the environment. History shows, however, that as societies evolve and other priorities emerge previously implicit knowledge can decline. This leads us towards identifying present 'implicit' radioactive waste knowledge and developing means for capturing it. The presentation will conclude with an argument for the development of strategies that encourage the sharing of trustworthy radioactive waste-related knowledge. These strategies, supported national governments, whilst being both practical and cost-effective to implement must be cognisant of the need for local and regional security. (author)