9 Apr (NucNet): Successful experiences in siting radioactive waste management facilities have shown that “active regulatory involvement” is needed and is also possible “without endangering the independence and integrity of the nuclear safety regulator”, a study by the Nuclear Energy Agency says.
The study, which focuses on the role of the regulatory system in the development of national radioactive waste repository programmes, says an open regulatory process led by “a respected regulator” can give confidence that the proposals are subject to “the needed detailed technical scrutiny on behalf of the public”.
It says that among all the players involved in the radioactive waste management decision-making process, the change in the role of the nuclear safety regulator from the end of the 1990s has “probably been most notable”.
The traditional position worldwide had been that the regulator should “not be too intensely involved” with the disposal programme until the licensing process begins, since its independence might be legally compromised. In recent years, this position has “resolutely changed towards a more active and visible role in the pre-licensing steps”, the study says.
It says nuclear safety regulators are more likely to provide “informal guidance and recommendations regarding the technical options selected by the implementer for a storage or repository project”.
“Nuclear safety regulators should consciously strive to be, and be seen as, independent overseers of the quality of the implementer’s work and the credibility of the decision-making process,” the study says.
Nuclear safety regulators, in their role of representing the interest of public protection, are more likely to become involved early in the siting process and to respond to local community requests for collaboration and mutual information, the study says.
Nuclear safety regulators have a role both in developing safety standards and criteria to ensure public health and in evaluating whether these standards and criteria will be reasonably met by proposed facilities. As a waste management facility project progresses and depending on the country, the nuclear safety regulator may increasingly be called upon to review preliminary safety cases and supporting assessments and information, and to provide feedback to the implementer both formally and informally.
The study adds: “The independence and public accountability of the nuclear safety regulator are crucial to public confidence in the national radioactive waste management programme, especially in the high-level radioactive waste programme.”
The study says most nuclear safety regulators are now “clearly separated” from the national ministry in charge of energy and are sometimes formed as independent agencies reporting to high elected authority.
The study, ‘The Evolving Role and Image of the Regulator in Radioactive Waste Management: Trends Over Two Decades’, is online:
www.oecd-nea.org/rwm/docs/2012/7083-evolving-role-and-image.pdf
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