Radioactive waste management in Belgium

In 1975 the research association BELGOWASTE was founded in order to prepare a technical and administrative plan for radioactive waste management in Belgium and to take the preliminary steps for establishing an organization which would be responsible for this activity. The association made a survey of all forecasts concerning radioactive waste production by power reactors and the fuel cycle industry based on various schemes of development of the nuclear industry. From the technical point of view, the reference plan for waste management envisages: Purification at the production site of large volumes of low-level effluents; construction of a central facility for the treatment and intermediate storage of process concentrates (slurries, resins, etc.) and medium-level waste; centralization assumes the making of adequate arrangements for transporting waste before final treatment; maximum recovery of plutonium from waste and treatment of resiudal material by incineration at very high temperatures; treatment at the production site of high-level effluents from irradiated fuel reprocessing; construction of an underground long-term storage site for high-level treated waste and plutonium fuel fabrication waste; deep clay formations are at present preferred; disposal of low-level treated waste into the Atlantic ocean. It is intended to entrust the entire responsibility for treatment, disposal and storage of treated waste to a single body with participation by the State, the Nuclear Energy Research Centre (CEN/SCK), the electricity companies and Belgonucleaire. The partners intend to set up their facilities and services in the area of Mol