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For more information please get in touch with ARPANSA
- Phone Number+61 3 9433 2211
- Fax Number+61 3 9432 1835
- email ARPANSA
Radioactive Waste Safety
Radioactivity is very much a part of today’s world. Radioactive materials are used beneficially in areas such as health, agriculture, industry, science, protection of the environment, and for our personal safety (smoke detectors for instance). The flipside is that many of these radioactive materials will ultimately end up as waste once their useful life is over.
What is Radioactive Waste?
Radioactive waste is material that contains radionuclides and has no foreseeable further use.
For instance, many countries do not regard unprocessed spent nuclear fuel as 'waste' because of its future potential use as fuel for electricity production in next-generation nuclear reactors.
Waste includes liquid and gaseous effluents as well as solid materials.
What do we do with it?
Radioactive waste must be managed in order to isolate it from people and the environment ("safety"). Radioactive waste must also be managed in a way that prevents it from being accessed by anybody with malicious intent ("security").
In many jurisdictions it is a regulatory requirement that, wherever possible, radioactive sources for which no further use is foreseen should be returned to the supplier, either for recycling or disposal. However, this is not always possible.
The two ways in which radioactive waste are generally managed are "concentrate and contain" or "dilute and disperse", the former for mainly solid waste and the latter for most liquid and gaseous waste.
Cradle-to-Grave Management of Radioactive Waste
The processes of "cradle-to-grave" management of radioactive waste, from generation to disposal, include:
ARPANSA’s Role in Ensuring Radioactive Waste Safety in Australia
In Australia, radioactive waste safety is guided by a series of national codes and safety guides based on international best practice, including IAEA standards. These national codes and guidance documents are developed by ARPANSA and currently cover the areas of classification of radioactive waste, predisposal management, management of NORM, near-surface disposal of radioactive waste, and radioactive waste management in mining and mineral processing. These codes and guidance form part of ARPANSA’s role in promoting national uniformity in radiation protection regulation across all jurisdictions.
ARPANSA is a scientific and independent regulatory agency of the Australian government, which regulates Commonwealth activities in radioactive waste management. State and territory governments are independently responsible for radiation protection within their jurisdictions and regulate waste safety within their own jurisdiction.
International Best Practice
In response to the question “Where would I look for guidance on what you consider international best practice? Is there a specific set of guidelines or something that the IAEA publishes?”, the CEO of ARPANSA, Dr Carl-Magnus Larsson has provided the response:
“I do not think that you are able to find best international practice in a particular place. What you need to do is go and look in different places for the different aspects of the problem that you are studying and you will find what you can call best international practice for those different elements. I would particularly point perhaps to the Nuclear Energy Agency or the university in particular in relation to the safety assessment and also in relation to stakeholder involvement. There is the forum for stakeholder involvement which is a very active group within the OECD NEA. By doing that and also comparing different national systems, national facilities, you can get an indication on what is best international practice. But you do not find it in a specific place.
The ambition of the Waste Safety Team is that in the area of radioactive waste safety, best international practice should be found in one place - Australia!
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| Paper "Managing Radioactive
Waste in Australia" (PDF 415kb) (Reproduced from Issues.) |
Communication and Consultation
Consistent with Australian Government policy to embrace the Government 2.0 initiatives for improved engagement with stakeholders and the public, our aim is to eventually incorporate a facility here where you are able to contribute comments and engage in conversation on radioactive waste issues.
In the meantime, please provide us with any feedback or questions, and we’ll do our best to respond in timely fashion.
Current Projects of the ARPANSA Waste Safety Team
- Preparation of Australia’s 4th National Report to the UN Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management
- Updating the ARPANSA Regulatory Guidance on storage and near-surface disposal of radioactive waste (PDF 528 kb)
- Revision of the 1992 Code of Practice for the Near-Surface Disposal of Radioactive Waste in Australia (PDF 327 kb)
- Compiling a national inventory of Australia’s radioactive waste
- Utilising the IAEA Net Enabled Waste Management Database (NEWMDB) for reporting Australia’s national inventory of radioactive waste holdings
- Chair of IAEA Waste Safety Standards Committee (WASSC)
Important ARPANSA Links
- Australia’s Classification System for Radioactive Waste
- Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (including Waste)
- Code of Practice for the Near-Surface Disposal of Radioactive Waste in Australia (1992) (PDF 327 kb)
- Council Advice to CEO regarding a review of issues related to the Management of Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste in Australia
- Safe Disposal of Domestic Smoke Alarms
- NORM in Australia
- Cleanup of the British Atomic Test Sites at Maralinga
- Code of Practice for the Security of Radioactive Sources
Some Useful External Sites
- Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism Radioactive - Waste Management
- Radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel management in Australia (Parliamentary Library)
- Mt Walton East Intractable Waste Disposal Facility
- IAEA Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety
- Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), Canada
- Washington State DoH Waste Management
- South Carolina Energy Office - Radioactive Waste Disposal Program
- RadWaste.org
Useful Publications
- “No Time To Waste” (report of Senate Committee on the Dangers of Radioactive Waste, April 1996)
- IAEA General Safety Requirements “Safety Assessment for Facilities and Activities”
- IAEA draft Safety Guide “The Safety Case and Safety Assessment for Radioactive Waste Disposal”
- IAEA Safety Guide “Storage of Radioactive Waste”
- IAEA Requirements “Near Surface Disposal of Radioactive Waste”
- IAEA Safety Guide “Borehole Disposal Facilities for Radioactive Waste”
- IAEA Safety Requirements “Geological Disposal of Radioactive Waste”
- IAEA Safety Guide “Application of the Concepts of Exclusion, Exemption and Clearance”
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