Working Material of the CEG Workshop on Strategic Aspects of Radioactive Waste Management and Remediation of Contaminated Sites. Materials Presented to the Workshop

The CEG workshop was held on 26-27 April 2006 in Stockholm, Sweden. It was attended by representatives from 10 countries: Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States of America. The workshop discussed the development of strategies for RW management, and problems of remediation of nuclear sites sites with regard to the projects that CEG members had started or intended to begin at former navy bases in Russia. Belgium, Finland, France, and Sweden presented their strategies and schemes of RW management, and Russia presented the status of and plans for a new Russian state system for RW management. The workshop recognised that the Russian plans to establish key components of the RW management system are in line with the international practice: to create a funding mechanism and a state RW management organisation, update the legislative and regulatory basis for this new system, and elimination of some existing practices that hinder efficient RW management. The importance of public participation in the decision making process related to nuclear activities in Russia, for example, decommissioning of nuclear facilities was recognised by the CEG members. Presentations of international partners addressed waste acceptance criteria and technical aspects to enhance efficiency of national programmes for waste management, providing useful information for similar future efforts in the Russian Federation. Standardisation of containers, RW transportation equipment, and RW treatment techniques had been recognised as necessary means to reduce the cost and improve safety of joint projects. CEG members presented their approaches to remediation of contaminated sites and case studies of specific projects. They gave examples of methods and techniques that had been applied for remediation of nuclear sites and facilities in Russia, UK, France and Norway. The presentations offered methods and techniques that could be used in the challenging conditions of legacy sites in North-West Russia. Russia presented its regulatory approach to site remediation as well as specific problems and solutions related to nuclear legacy sites, like Andreeva Bay and Gremikha. It was agreed that the endpoint of remediation of contaminated sites must take into consideration specific characteristics of individual sites, for example, the future use and accessibility of the site. The ongoing work in Russia to develop normative documents on this issue was considering those factors and was being done in line with corresponding international norms.