National and Multinational Strategies for Radioactive Waste Disposal

Date01 April 2017
Author
47 ELR 10300 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 4-2017
C O M M E N T
National and Multinational
Strategies for Radioactive
Waste Disposal
by Kerri Morrison
Kerri Morrison is a J.D. Candidate, Class of 2018, at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.
Research into atomic energy and nuclear ssion
began in the early to mid-1900s, with scientists
recognizing the technologies’ potentia l to pro-
duce both energy and weapons.1 Today, nuclea r tech nol-
ogy is used in a variety of applications, including energy,
medicine, research, and agriculture.2 ese applications
produce waste that is radioactive a nd, therefore, harmful
to humans for a certain period of time.3 In order to pro-
tect human health and prevent harm to the environment,
radioactive waste must be carefully stored until it is no
longer so radioactive that it poses a threat to humans or
the environment.4
Radioactive wastes are generally sorted into three cat-
egories based on how radioactive the waste is: low-level
waste (LLW), intermediate-level waste (ILW), and high-
level waste (HLW).5 How waste is dened u nder these
categories varies bet ween countries and orga nizations,6
but generally LLW emits relatively low levels of radiation
for a short period of time; ILW contains higher levels of
radiation for a longer period of time; and HLW is the most
radioactive or radioactive for the longest period of time,
and usually consists of t he materials inside the nuclear
reactor when energy is produced.7
Appropriate strategies for t he storage and disposal of
LLW and ILW exist.8 However, the storage a nd disposal
of HLW poses a challenge because of the level of radia-
tion emitted from this waste and/or the longevity of the
1. World Nuclear Association, Outline History of Nuclear Energy, http://world-
nuclear.org /informa tion-lib rary/cur rent-and -future-g eneratio n/outlin e-
history-of-nuclear-energy.aspx (last updated Mar. 2014).
2. I A E A (IAEA), G   C 
R W, I’ A E A 2, available at https://
www.iaea.org/Our Work/ST/NE/NEFW/_nefw-d ocuments/Radioac tive
Waste.pdf (last visited Dec. 9, 2016).
3. Id.
4. Id.
5. Id.
6. Id.
7. World Nuclear Association, Radioactive Waste Management, http://www.
world-nuclear.org/info rmation-librar y/nuclear-fuel-cyc le/nuclear-waste s/
radioactive-waste-management.aspx (last updated Oct. 2016).
8. IAEA, supra note 2, at 4.
radiation.9 Because HLW may be radioactive for hundreds
of thousands of years, storage and disposal strategies must
consider the safety of future generations and the environ-
ment.10 While multiple methods of disposing of HLW
have been proposed, only one method, deep geologic dis-
posal, is considered by most countries to be appropriately
feasible and secure enough to protect future generations
and the environment.11
HLW is generated mainly from military and energy
applications of nuclear technology.12 Most HLW is created
through the processes that occur within nuclear reactors,
and includes spent or used fuel—the fuel left over after
energy production.13 More than 50 nations have HLW,14
and disposal of this waste remains a concern not only for the
nations that have generated it, but other nations as well.15
Each nation is responsible for its own radioactive wastes
under t he Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel
Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Man-
agement, the most comprehensive international agreement
on radioactive wastes.16 While some nations have resolved to
dispose of their radioactive waste within their own borders,
9. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), High-Level Waste, http://
www.nrc.gov/waste/high-level-waste.html (last updated Nov. 30, 2016).
10. Id.
11. World Nuclear Association, Storage and Disposal of Radioactive Wastes,
http:// www.world -nuclea r.org/in formati on-lib rary/n uclear- fuel-c ycle/
nuclear- wastes/a ppendice s/radioa ctive-was te-manag ement-ap pendix-2 -
storage-an.aspx (last updated Oct. 30, 2016).
12. U.S. D  E (DOE), S   M
 D  U N F  H-L R
W 1 (2013), available at http://energy.gov/sites/prod/les/Strategy%20
for%20the%2 0Management %20and%20Dis posal%20of% 20Used%20
Nuclear%20Fuel%20and%20High%20Level%20Radioacti ve%20Waste.
pdf.
13. Radioactive Waste Management, supra note 7.
14. World Nuclear Association, International Nuclear Waste Disposal Concepts,
http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-
wastes/international-nuclear-waste-disposal-concepts.aspx (last updated
Nov. 2016).
15. Association for Regional & International Underground Storage, e World
Needs Nuclear Power: Nuclear Power Needs Multinational Facilities, http://
www.arius-world.org/ (last visited Feb. 20, 2017).
16. Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the
Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, art. 21, opened for signature Sept.
Copyright © 2017 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.

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