Switzerland: Current National Strategies, Regulations, and Waste Acceptance Criteria

Disposal of radioactive materials in Switzerland is governed by regulation 'HSK BOS' and the final disposal of such wastes is governed by the organization Nationale Genossenschaft für die Lagerung von Radioaktiven Abfällen (NAGRA), although specific activity limits are laid down in the 'Swiss Radioprotection Ordinance' (SRO). The material for disposal must be specified in terms of nuclide inventory, material composition, technical packaging arrangements, etc.: this eventually leads to a certificate for disposal of the material by NAGRA. At this stage, an application is then made to the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate to approve the procedure. Only after receiving that approval can any conditioning procedure commence. The current position is that the wastes are then stored in the Federal Interim Storage Facility awaiting final disposal at some time in the future: there is no final repository in Switzerland at present