Waste management, ultimate waste disposal and the fuel cycle

The four main steps of waste management are: interim storage of spent fuel elements, reprocessing of spent fuels and recycling of recovered nuclear materials, direct, ultimate disposal of waste that cannot or should not be reprocessed for technical or economic reasons, disposal of radioactive waste. The expert opinion focusses on ultimate disposal as the most problematic step, stating the legal problems arising from ultimate disposal being carried out by private, licensed contractors, or completely under civil law, discussing the two possibilities also from the point of view of constitutional law and legal policy. Other aspects examined are: distribution of responsibilities, harmonization and systematization of legal provisions; principles to be applied to an evidence to be produced for due waste management; the financing of ultimate disposal: special levies, licence fees, taxes, levies for pollution control. The expert opinion considers special levies as a control measure to be the right instrument in case of ultimate disposal being placed into private hands. (HSCH)