International safeguards aspects of spent fuel in permanent geologic repositories

The concept of not reprocessing spent fuel (No-Reprocessing) is one of the options for spent-fuel management. Recent changes in social, environmental, economical, and political scenarios make the disposal of spent fuel in geologic repositories more attractive, thus offering new challenges to safeguards. The nuclear community has expressed the need for a consensus to develop a strategy for addressing issues of long-term safeguards for the disposal of spent fuel in geologic repositories. At this point a very fundamental question arises, i.e., to what extent should safeguards for spent fuel be continued? One possibility is to continue safeguards even long after the final disposal facility is decommissioned. This view is strongly opposed by others who maintain that it is impractical to suggest that safeguards on such fuel be continued ad infinitum. To address various concerns at an international level, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) convened an advisory group meeting to formulate a safeguards policy for spent fuel placed in permanent geologic repositories. The agency's considerations to date are discussed