Key finding and messages (Rapporteur's report)

It is clear that the fundamental environmental principle of User Pays is being applied to waste management. This is very important, as the principle is one of the basic tenets of the environmental movement. For Radioactive waste management to be in accord with the principle is a powerful and positive statement. There are Acts of Parliament, Decrees, or Directives, which provide the authority for the funds to be established and preserved. This is important as it demonstrates, at the highest possible level, that there will be funds available to deal with the issue of waste management, including disposal, in the future. This is a powerful message that makes clear that the issue is important and that it will be addressed. Some countries establish decommissioning and waste management funds together. In other cases the two funds are separate. In addition to a moral requirement based in the principle of User Pays, and a legal requirement to establish funds for decommissioning and/or disposal there is a clear statement in the IAEA Convention on Safety or Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Management (1997) that adequate financial resources be available for long-term management and disposal. These three fundamental requirements clearly signal that this is an important financial issue, and that the nuclear community takes it seriously. We clearly pay homage to the principle of User Pays and have identified the requirement to establish funds not only in state legislation but also as a requirement in an international convention. Clearly there is a capability to determine the dimension and magnitude of all of the potential waste liabilities and to develop a waste management strategy to deal with these liabilities. However, the cost estimation of these liabilities contain considerable uncertainties as they are projected over many years into the future. There are considerable uncertainties related to the growth of the funds as a result of the chosen investment strategy, the management/mismanagement of the fund, and the inflation rate. These suggest that a balance is required between the rate of return and the preservation of the fund value in order to preserve the fund value for future implementation of waste management and/or disposal programs. Sooner is better than later in order to reduce these liabilities. However, the decisions related to implementation are clearly within the purview of society and governments