Principles and objective of radioactive waste management

To achieve the objective of safe radioactive waste management requires an effective and systematic roach within a national framework in which the roles and responsibilities of all relevant parties are defined. Based on the principles set out in the Safety Fundamentals document [1] such a nafional firamework which includes the responsibilities of the parties involved and other inpoitant features (e.g. the licensing process and safety and environmental assessment) has been developed in the Safety Standard Establishing a national system for radioactive waste management [2]. 

RADWASS is the IAEA s contribution to establishing and promoting, in a coherent and comprehensive manner, the basic safety philosophy for radioactive waste management and the stq s necessary to assure its implementation. It is also intended to contribute to a further harmonization of safety requirements in various countries. 

RADWASS documents will be published in the IAEA s Safety Series under number 111. These publications are organized in the four hierarchical levels of the IAEA Safety Series and are at present planned to comprise 1 Safety Fundamentals document, 6 Safety Standards, 28 Safety Guides and 20 Safety Practices. This may however change as a result of the review of RADWASS. 

Safety Series publications contain recommendations of the IAEA. They will be applied to the Agency s own operations and operations using Agency siq)port and may become mandatory if they are adopted into the national legal framework. 

A binding document for signatory States will be the convention on the safety of radioactive waste management which is presently being developed. The publications [1,2] will form a basis for drafting this safety convention. As such a convention, in contrast to the RADWASS publications, is a stand-alone document the wording of the RADWASS Safety Fundamentals or other sources will have to be modified and adapted as necessary. 

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