Prospects of Integrated Waste Management Planning

The objective of an Integrated Waste Management Plan is to ensure that chosen Strategy for Waste Management that addresses safety boundaries, environmental concerns and stakeholders' interest can be implemented on the level of the country, but also on the level of individual waste generator, predisposal facility operator and disposal facility operator. The paper will discuss major prerequisites for establishment of an Integrated Waste Management Plan based on knowledge of inventory of waste streams in stock, forecast of waste streams that will be generated during established timeline for integrated planning, assessment of needs for different waste management facilities and selection of technologies to deal with waste from "cradle to grave" during the envisaged timeline, establishment of cost estimates and scenarios for different alternatives for waste management during planning period and approaches to funding for implementation. Iterative nature of planning process focusing of integration of top-down and bottom-up approaches will be discussed as well as advantages of waste minimization at the source during operation and by the design of facilities , as well as limitations, and restrictions to develop a flexible plan to address envisaged needs. Approaches to planning of NPP and NFC waste generators and operators versus institutional waste generators and operators practices and impact of these differences to integrated plan will be pointed out and solutions proposed. The integrated plan needs to consider waste from decommissioning and remediation of nuclear facilities, legacy wastes and eventual accident waste meaning that the plan requires establishment of different planning scenarios as well as "holding points" to allow for adequate flexibility to address inevitable changes. In addition, an early assessment of waste management needs from development and use of advanced reactors and innovative nuclear fuel cycles is required to aid design and operation of such facilities as well as to understand their impact to overall waste management planning. The paper will point out experiences gained during presentations of principals for establishment of an Integrated Waste Management Plan during IAEA TC expert missions at different regional and national events. The discussion on prospects of integrated planning will conclude presentation. (author)