Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management

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Presentation to the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee 31 May 2006
Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel
Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste
Management
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Outline

• Radioactive waste
• Status of Radioactive Waste Management
• Legislative Framework
• About the Joint Convention
• Objectives of the Convention
• Obligations of Contracting Parties
• Benefits of Acceding
• Personnel and Financial Implications

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Radioactive Waste

• Radioactive waste is radioactive material for
  which no further use is foreseen.
• Sources of radioactive waste in RSA
• Koeberg, NECSA, Mines, Hospitals
• Of this Spent fuel from Koeberg presents most
  challenge Long Lived and Highly Radiotoxic

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Status of Radwaste Management

• Waste Managed Safely
• Public understanding lacking
• Capacity for long term management needs to be
  improved

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Status of Radwaste Management

• Spent Fuel (HLW) Generated at Koeberg and at
  SAFARI at NECSA
• Koeberg Spent fuel about 95 of spent fuel
• Low and Intermediate Level Waste (LILW) from
  Koeberg disposed at Vaalputs
• LILW from NECSA still on the Pelindaba site

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Legislative Framework

• Strong, recent and adequate legislative
  framework
• - Nuclear Energy Act, No. 46 of 1999
• The authority over spent fuel and radioactive
  waste management vests in the Minister of
  Minerals and Energy
• - National Nuclear Regulator Act, No. 47 of 1999
• -Establishes the NNR, responsible for safety
  regulation
• - Radioactive Waste Management Policy and
  Strategy, 2005
• - Provides policy and strategy on the management
  of radioactive waste and used nuclear fuel

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Legislative Framework

• Radioactive Waste Management Policy and Strategy,
  2005
• Provides policy and strategy on the management of
  radioactive waste and used nuclear fuel
• Principles
• Protection of Human Health
• Protection of Environment
• Protection beyond Borders
• Protection of future Generations
• Burden on future Generations
• National Legal Framework
• Control of waste generation
• Management of Interdependencies
• Safety of Facilities

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Legislative Framework

• Radioactive Waste Management Policy and Strategy,
  2005
• Principles continued
• Polluter Pays
• Transparency
• Sound decision making
• Precautionary Principle
• No Import or Export
• Cooperative Governance
• Public participation
• Capacity building and education
• International Cooperation

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About the Joint Convention

• An incentive convention under the auspices of the
  IAEA
• Development of the Convention
• In the preamble of the Convention on Nuclear
  Safety
• 6 Expert meetings to draft and finalize the
  convention (1995 1997)
• Status of the Convention
• Entered into force on 18 June 2001, 42
  signatories and 41 parties
• Review Meetings
• To review the obligatory reports submitted by
  contracting parties
• Held every 3 years at the IAEA headquarters,
  Vienna.
• Last meeting ended a week ago (15 24 May 2006).
• Next meeting will be in 2009.

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Objectives of the Convention

• Achieve and Maintain high level of safety through
  
• Enhanced national measures
• International co-operation
• Technical co-operation
• Ensure provision of effective defenses against
  potential hazards
• Prevent accidents with radiological consequences
  and mitigate their consequences should they occur

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Obligations of Contracting Parties

• Submission of country report in time for the
  scheduled review meeting
• Report must address
• -Spent Fuel management policy and practices
• -Radioactive Waste Management policy and
  practices
• -Criteria used to define and categorize
  radioactive waste
• -List of spent fuel and radioactive waste
  management facilities
• -Inventory of spent fuel and radioactive waste
• Attendance of the review meeting
• -each contracting party must be represented by 1
  delegate and alternates, experts and advisors as
  it deems necessary.
• -intergovernmental organizations can attend as
  observes at the invitation of the contracting
  parties.
• Reviewing the country reports of other
  contracting parties

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Benefits of Acceding

• Benefit from interacting with other contracting
  parties on matters related to spent fuel and
  radioactive waste management
• Assurance to international community that the
  achievement of high levels of safety management
  of radioactive waste in the country is a
  fundamental priority.
• Assurance to the South African public that
  radioactive waste in the country is managed
  according to international norms and standards
  and is open to peer review.
• Reinforce implementation of basic safety criteria
  and standards.

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Personnel and Financial Implications

• NNR (Legal Mandate i.t.o. NNR Act)
• Department of Health Directorate Radiation
  Control
• (legal mandate i.t.o. Hazardous Substances Act,
  radioactive material that is not part of the
  nuclear fuel cycle)
• Production of the Country report
• Attendance of Review Meetings

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