National programs on radioactive waste management was the main topic of the 45th meeting of the ENSREG WG2

The Working Group on the management of radioactive waste and "decommissioning", established within the ENSREG (European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group), the Group of Nuclear Safety Authorities, of the EU Member States, created by the European Commission, met yesterday in Rome at the ISIN headquarters. .

The meeting was led by the president of the Working Group and coordinator of the ISIN Consulta, Stefano Laporta, and by Mario Dionisi, technical manager of the Service for the management of radioactive waste and for the transport of radioactive materials.

The participants discussed various topics of common interest in relation to the state of implementation of the national programs on the management of radioactive waste prepared in implementation of Directive 2011/70/Euratom. This, in order to develop specific technical positions and guidelines of the ENSREG useful both to the Commission, to promote community initiatives in the field of radioactive waste management, and to the Member States to comply with the obligations established by the Directive.

In particular, they discussed about:

- Optimization and simplification of the Peer Review, IRRS and ARTEMIS processes, which each Member Country must carry out every 10 years as required by the two Directives on nuclear safety and the safe management of radioactive waste;
- Organization of an ENSREG Workshop in 2024, with the support of the Commission, to discuss the experiences of Member States after 10 years of application of the Euratom Directive 2011/70 on the management of radioactive waste. In 2024 all countries will have completed the first cycle of Peer Review missions (ARTEMIS) and it will be possible to evaluate the effects of the Directive on radioactive waste management programs in European countries;
- Initiative of the European Parliament on a study of the regulatory frameworks necessary for a potential construction of a European regional repository in a deep geological formation for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste.