[en] The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management was adopted on 5 September 1997 by a Diplomatic Conference convened by the IAEA from 1 to 5 September 1997. The Joint Convention was opened for signature at Vienna on 29 September 1997 during the forty-first session of the General Conference of the IAEA. This document reproduces the text of the Convention

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[en] Japan gained its first experiences in the transportation of nuclear materials in 1958, when it imported new fuel from the United States, and in 1966, when it shipped spent fuel to Great Britain. In Japan today, 43 nuclear power plants with a total generating capacity of approximately 34,590 MW supply about 27% of the nation's power. Other plants under construction or at the pre-construction stage will bring the total to 55 units with generating capacity of about 46,000 MW. If nuclear power is to remain a stable and reliable supply of energy for Japan for the foreseeable future, Japan must act speedily to establish a complete domestic nuclear fuel cycle to ensure that its valuable uranium resources are used with maximum efficiency. This objective has been accompanied by diversification in the manner in which nuclear materials are transported. Nuclear power generation can only proceed smoothly if transportation ensures that materials for the nuclear fuel cycle circulate smoothly from the front end to the back end of the cycle. Nuclear power plants, nuclear fuel cycle facilities and the like must be isolated from the general public in prescribed areas where radiation controls are in force. During transportation, however, radioactive materials transit areas of public access, such as ports and roads, where they are likely to come much closer to the general public. Ensuring that nuclear materials are transported safely and reliably is vital anywhere, but in a country as densely populated as Japan, it takes on even greater importance. 4 figs., 4 tabs

[en] Amendments to the annexes 1, 2 and 3 of the regulation. (HP)

[en] In its seventh meeting in 1989 the Standing Advisory Group on the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (SAGSTRAM) recommended that all Member States adopt the 1985 Edition of the IAEA Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, Safety Series No 6, by 1 January 1991. In order to determine the extent to which that recommendation was fulfilled, a questionnaire on the implementation of Radioactive Material Transport Regulations was developed by the IAEA and sent to all Member States. The main results are that 59 of the 64 responding Member States have regulations for both domestic and international shipments of radioactive material, and that all regulations are based primarily on Safety Series No 6. For domestic and international shipments of radioactive material, 51 (86%) and 54 (92%) of the Member States with regulations, respectively, use the 1985 Edition of Safety Series No 6 (original, as supplemented or amended) as the primary basis for national regulations. These results show that Safety Series No 6 is widely used by the Member States as the basis of their national regulations and the 1985 Edition has been quickly implemented into their regulations. (author)

[en] The Savannah River Site missed more legally enforceable cleanup milestones in fiscal 1993 than any other Energy Department facility, failing to meet more than half of its 83 formal commitments, according to a recent DOE report. But the report says most of the seriously overdue milestones at the South Carolina facility are the result of delays by federal and state environmental regulators, not DOE. Altogether, the report said DOE's environmental cleanup program met 331, or 74.4 percent, of its 451 worsening of performance when compared to DOE's track record over the past five years, during which the department met 784, or 87 percent, of its 904 enforceable milestones

[en] The increasing cost of complexity of final disposal of radioactive waste is a major incentive for decommissioning operators to seek release of very low active radioactive material from regulatory control. The European Union supports the use of safe clearance procedures and has proposed nuclide-specific clearance levels to provide a common basis for European regulators. The EU's R and D programme has also contributed significantly to the introduction of effective decontamination, measurement and recycling techniques. (Author)

[en] The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) publishes standards and recommendations on all aspects of nuclear safety in its Safety Series, which includes radioactive waste management and transport of radioactive materials. Safety Series documents may be adopted by a State into its national legal framework. Most of the States used the IAEA transport regulations (Safety Series No. 6) as a basis for their national regulation. The two highest ranking documents of the Radioactive Waste Safety Standards (RADWASS) programme, the Safety Fundamentals and the Safety Standard on the national waste management system, have been published. Both provide impetus into the waste management safety convention, a legally binding document for signatory states, which is being drafted. The already existing Convention on Nuclear Safety covers the management of radioactive waste at land-based civil nuclear power plants. (author) 1 fig., 18 refs

[en] This article concerns the controversy over the siting of Ward Valley, a proposed low-level nuclear waste depository in California. The author contends that certain politicians and environmental groups have misrepresented the facts in their opposition to the site. In particular, an accusation about withholding information about the amount of Pu-239 to be stored at the site is false, since that information is available in the public record. Other misrepresentations are presented and discussed

[en] This book addresses the regulatory side of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) from 1963-1971. Key participants are described and such questions as why did the overwhelming acceptance of nuclear power in the early 1960's give way to growing skepticism by the end of the decade are addressed. Funding, corporate competition, environmental controversy, radiation effects debate are among included topics. This well referenced book is appropriate for anyone writing or teaching about nuclear regulation in the USA