Roles and responsibilities for development of disposal facilities

1. Roles and responsibilities for development of disposal facilities Phil Metcalf Workshop on Strategy and Methodologies for the Development of Near Surface Disposal Facilities April 7-11, 2014, Amman Jordan

2. Principles and requirements • Project stages / time frame • Safety case evolution • Regulatory process at different stages

3. Principle 2: Role of governmentAn effective legal and governmental framework for safety, including anindependent regulatory body, must be established and sustained. 3.8. A properly established legal and governmental framework provides for the regulation of facilities and activities that give rise to radiation risks and for the clear assignment of responsibilities. The government is responsible for the adoption within its national legal system of such legislation, regulations, and other standards and measures as may be necessary to fulfil all its national responsibilities and international obligations effectively, and for the establishment of an independent regulatory body.

4. Safety Requirements for Disposal

5. Requirement 1: Government responsibilities • The government is required to provide an appropriate national legal and organizational framework within which disposal facilities for radioactive waste can be sited, designed, constructed, operated and closed. • This shall include: • confirmation at a national level of the need for different types of disposal facilities; • the definition of the steps in the development and licensing for different types of facility; • the clear allocation of responsibilities, the securing of financial and other resources, and the provision of independent regulatory functions related to each planned disposal facility

6. Derives from Principles for Nuclear, Radiation, Radioactive Waste and Transport Safety and Joint Convention Disposal projects, • The development of facilities for the disposal of high level and long lived radioactive waste, are given special consideration within this infrastructure because of the relatively long time necessary for the development of such projects

7. Matters considered: • Defining national policy for long term management of radioactive waste of different types • Setting clearly defined legal, technical and financial responsibilities for organizations to be involved in the development of waste management facilities, including all types of disposal facility • Ensuring the adequacy and security of financial provisions for each disposal facility

8. Defining the overall process for the development, operation and closure of disposal facilities, including the legal and regulatory requirements (e.g. licence conditions) at each step, and the processes for decision making and the involvement of stakeholders (interested parties) • Ensuring that the necessary scientific and technical expertise remains available both for the operator and for the support of independent regulatory review and other national review functions • Defining legal, technical and financial responsibilities and if necessary providing for any post-closure institutional arrangements that are envisaged, including monitoring and ensuring the security of disposed waste of different types

9. Requirement 2: Regulatory body responsibilities • The regulatory body shall establish the regulatory requirements for the development of each type of disposal facility and shall set out the procedures for meeting the requirements for the various stages of the licensing process • It shall also set conditions for the development, operation and closure of each individual disposal facility and shall carry out such activities as are necessary to ensure that the conditions are met

10. General standards for the protection of human health and the environment are usually set out in a national policy or in legislation, the regulatory body developing regulatory requirements specific to each type of disposal facility that exists or is envisaged, on the basis of the national policy and with due regard to the objective and criteria set out in Section 2. • The regulatory body provides guidance on the interpretation of the national legislation and regulatory requirements, as necessary, and guidance on what is expected of the operator in respect of each individual facility. • It also engages in dialogue with waste producers, the disposal facility operators and other interested parties to ensure that the regulatory requirements are appropriate and practicable.

11. Regulatory body maintains competent staff, acquire independent assessment capabilities and participate in international co-operation as necessary to fulfil its regulatory functions. • The regulatory body will document the procedures that it uses to evaluate the safety of each type of disposal facility, the procedures that operators are expected to follow in the context of licensing and important pre-licensing decisions and licence applications, and the procedures that it applies in reviewing submissions from operators to assess compliance with regulatory requirements

12. Similarly, in respect of each individual facility, the regulatory body sets out the procedures that an operator is expected to follow in demonstrating compliance with the conditions for the development and operation of the facility, • and the procedures that it applies to assess compliance with the conditions throughout all phases of the development, operation and closure of the disposal facility.

13. Requirement 3: The responsibilities of the operator • The operator of a disposal facility shall be responsible for its safety • The operator shall carry out safety assessment and develop a safety case, and shall carry out all the necessary activities for siting, design, construction, operation, closure and, if necessary post closure surveys, according to national strategy, in compliance with the regulatory requirements and within the national legal infrastructure

14. Develop practical and safe disposal facility and for demonstrating its safety, consistent with the requirements of the regulatory body • Task undertaken considering the characteristics and quantities of the radioactive waste to be disposed of, the site or sites available, the mining, excavation, construction and engineering techniques available, and the national legal infrastructure and regulatory requirements • Responsible for developing a safety case, on the basis of which decisions on the development, operation and closure of the disposal facility will be made

15. Conduct or commission research and development necessary to ensure and to demonstrate that the planned technical operations can be practically and safely accomplished, and the research necessary to investigate, understand and support the processes on which the safety of the disposal facility depends • Carry out all the necessary investigations of the site or sites and of materials, and will assess their suitability and procure all the data necessary for safety assessment • Establish technical specifications that are justified by safety assessment, to ensure that the disposal facility is developed in accordance with the safety case. Include waste acceptance criteria and other controls and limits to be applied during construction, operation and closure

16. Retain all the information relevant to the safety case and the supporting safety assessment for the disposal facility, and the inspection records that demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements and with the operator’s own specification • Such information and records will be retained at least up until the time when the information is shown to be superseded or until responsibility for the facility is passed on to another organization, such as at closure, when all relevant information and records will be transferred to the organisation assuming responsibility for the facility

17. Co-operate with the regulatory body and supply all the information that the regulatory body may require • The need to preserve the records for long time periods will be taken into account in selecting the format and materials to be used for records

18. Project stages / time frame 0 10 20 40 100 200? Government Operator Regulator Safety Case

19. Safety case evolution