INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1. Introduction

The term “waste” generally refers to things that society considers to be of no value and wants to get rid of. Not all waste can be made to disappear, however. And not all waste is harmless. Historically, approaches to the handling of waste have often been to dump it in an uncontrolled fashion on the basis that the environment has an infinite capacity to absorb, degrade and disperse the waste. However, industrialisation has led to a massive increase in the scale and toxicity of the waste. The environmental movement has also played a significant role in focusing attention on proper waste management.

Since its discovery in the late 19th century, many countries have exploited the processes that define radioactivity. Rapid scientific development and technological application in the industrial, medical and military fields have resulted in the production of a wide variety of radioactive waste. Humans and the environment need to be protected from the radioactivity and toxicity from this waste. For high-level, long-lived radioactive waste and spent fuel, this protection needs to last for periods of time extending to hundreds of thousands of years. The international consensus is that radioactive waste should be managed by isolating and containing it, so that its hazardous nature cannot cause harm to humans and the environment (e.g. EU, 2011; ICRP, 2013). Final disposal facilities are designed to fulfil these functions of preventing or controlling the release and dispersion of radioactive substances by means of a combination of engineered and natural barriers (see also IAEA, 2016) (see Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1. Artist’s impression of what a future deep geological radioactive waste repository may look like

Source: COVRA.

The development and implementation of these disposal facilities will take several decades. Once filled with radioactive waste, disposal facilities are to be sealed and closed. In this state they are to remain safe for several millennia. Final radioactive waste disposal repositories are designed to be “intrinsically safe”, in such a way that safety does not depend on human presence and intervention, but is provided by the engineered and natural barriers. However, there is no intention to abandon or forget the facilities, nor to forgo, at any time, the records, knowledge and memory (RK&M) of the repository and the waste it contains.