Radiation pollution as a threat to the environmental security of the Russia

The topic of the article is relevant — the problem of radioactive waste management, since the task of increasing the level of security of organizations of the country’s nuclear power-industrial complexes is one of the priorities for ensuring state and public security in the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation. The growth of radioactive waste is a hazard to human health and the environment. The state needs a unified regulation of the radioactive waste management policy and prevention of radioactive disasters.

Including Civil Society in R&D Projects on Radioactive Waste Management: interactions with Civil Society (ICS) in EURAD

One objective of EURAD is to allow innovative ways for close interactions between experts from WMOs (waste management organisations), TSOs (technical support organisations) and REs (research organisations) and civil society (CS) organisations. Based on a model of pluralistic interactions as developed and tested in previous projects (SITEX-II, JOPRAD, Modern2020, etc.), EURAD proposes a framework for interaction that consists of translating scientific/technical results for exchanging with a group of CS representatives, gathering CS views on future EURAD activities, and improving the mutual understanding on research, development and demonstration (RD&D) performed to support the development of safe solutions for radioactive waste. This framework of interaction also develops propositions on how to interact with CS on scientific and technical results, how to deal with uncertainties (inherently linked to the long timeframes and numerous processes considered for geological disposal) and on how to interact with CS stakeholders to promote mutual benefits of the available knowledge, based on cooperation and sharing. The final objective is to create the methodological conditions for interactions between the concerned categories of players to take place on the same footing and fair enough for each category of participants to be able to co-contribute to the framing of the discussions. To do so, the EURAD established interaction activities with a group of representatives of CS organisations (the CS larger group). The composition of this group has been established at the start of EURAD via an open call by the EURAD consortium to CS organisations, such as local communities having interest in radioactive waste management (RWM, local association, local committee of information, local partnership), and national or European CS organisations taking part in interactions in the field of RWM at the national or European level. The interactions between the technical experts and the CS group are facilitated by CS facilitators (also called CS experts), according to the “double wing” methodology elaborated in the SITEX II project, working for linked third parties to mandated players in EURAD, with a standing engagement on RWM and/or having skills/experience on the involvement of CS in scientific and technical issues. The CS experts interact with the institutional experts from the WMOs, TSOs and REs in order to have a better understanding of the field of study and to prepare interactions with the CS larger group. This double wing process enables participation of CS representatives in RD&D projects. This involves the use of specific methods, such as the PEP Serious Game (developed in the SITEX II project) and ad hoc methodologies, such as the 3+1 dialogue developed in the framework of the UMAN project in EURAD working on uncertainties management. In parallel, a process of evaluation of the ICS (interaction with civil society) activities is implemented with the objective to establish criteria enabling good conditions for fruitful interactions with CS in EURAD.

EURAD School of Radioactive Waste Management

The European Joint Programme on Radioactive Waste Management (EURAD – H2020, grant agreement No. 847593) aims to achieve a step-wise change in European collaboration towards safe radioactive waste management (RWM) through the development of a robust and sustained science, technology and knowledge management (KM) programme. EURAD has three KM work packages. The main goals are to (i) preserve generated knowledge, (ii) transfer knowledge to Member States with early-stage RWM programmes, (iii) transfer knowledge between generations, and (iv) disseminate knowledge. The EURAD work package (WP) on “Training & mobility” aids in achieving these goals through its “School of Radioactive Waste Management”. The School of RWM supports competence building in RWM matters. Currently four distinguished initiatives can be highlighted: the organization of training courses, the hosting of webinars, the coordination of a mobility programme, and actions to support the EURAD PhD community. The School of RWM has a dedicated webpage (http://www.euradschool.eu, last access: 30 September 2021) where all information on its activities can be found. A portfolio of basic and specialized training courses was set up containing an up-to-date list of existing training initiatives and new training courses. The latter are based on a gap analysis performed within the framework of the priorities set in the EURAD Roadmap and on the end-user needs. The School of RWM gives attention to the best-fitted training format and scientific state-of-the-art is guaranteed through the lecturing by EURAD and/or external subject experts. Besides training courses, webinars on specific topics that are of relevance to the entire EURAD community are hosted on a regular basis. These so-called Lunch & Learn sessions are short, informal online get-togethers, triggering discussion and debate. Presentations are given by experts from the EURAD community and beyond, such as from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) and can deal with all topics that link to RWM, from very specialized scientific matters to more general and overarching themes. The School of RWM also coordinates a mobility programme, allowing its beneficiaries to perform technical visits to infrastructures from EURAD partners or end-users, to undertake internships and to set up exchange programmes between organizations within EURAD. These activities serve as enhanced training as well as collaboration between all members of the EURAD community. These mobility actions can be complementary to an educational or training programme and/or part of a continuous personal development programme. Last but not least, the initiative was taken to support the EURAD PhD community. As future key players in the field of RWM, they will benefit from the possibilities for early networking with their peers and with established RWM experts. With these four initiatives, the School of RWM, and by extension the “Training & Mobility” WP, is an integral part of EURAD's KM programme. This presentation describes how the School of RWM is linked to the EURAD Roadmap, what its goal and long-term objectives are and how it aids in achieving EURAD's KM goals.

Knowledge Management in EURAD: the Roadmap

Knowledge management (KM) is a core activity of the European Joint Programme on Radioactive Waste Management (EURAD), which has driven the development of the EURAD Roadmap, a roadmap for the implementation of radioactive waste management (RWM) leading to geological disposal, using the experiences of advanced national and EU programmes. Because these programmes have been developed over more than 40 years and have adopted different technical and strategic approaches to deep geological repository (DGR) development, the roadmap has been structured to capture largely generic best practice in its presentation of programme Phasing and Thematic goals breakdown structure: 5 Phases of Implementation: Initiation, Site Selection, Site Characterization, Construction, and Operations and Closure. For each phase the roadmap explains how activities and existing knowledge are used to fulfil generic safety and implementation goals common across RWM programmes. 7 themes: Programme Management, Predisposal, Engineered Barrier Systems, Geoscience, Design and Optimisation, Siting and Licensing, and Safety Case. Each theme is further elaborated into sub-themes and domains. The intention of the EURAD roadmap is to provide information and guidance to three primary user groups: Organisations that are developing or updating their national RWM programmes with the objective of moving towards deep geological disposal of some of their wastes and requiring information on the steps involved; Organisations with advanced RWM and DGR programmes that require an informative training tool for new staff and a means of propagating knowledge across the groups involved in diverse activities; All organisations concerned with identifying potential future gaps in capabilities that could hinder implementation of their DGR programmes in decades to come. We recognize that there is not a unique route through the roadmap – like any roadmap, it can be used to stimulate consideration of alternative options and can be adapted by each Member State to suit national priorities. Because of its generic nature, the EURAD roadmap will be populated with content that is common to all programmes, creating a basis and strategy for a long-term project of Knowledge Management and Networking in RWM. The current focus is on signposting to existing content and the generation of new content to fill identified gaps for State of Knowledge, State of the Art, Guidance, Training and active Networks or Communities of Practice.

Radioactive waste management ethics and public policy: a precautionary approach

The focus of the project is on how to regulate risky technologies, both old (such as nuclear waste management) and new (such as geoengineering). Thus, the project is aimed at contributing to a better understanding of the ethical, political, and socio-economic aspects of radioactive waste management-related risks. The goal of the project is to contribute to the current discussions on the case of the expansion of the Hungarian Nuclear Power Plant. The Paks II project allows us to present how to set up procedures where some radioactive waste-related risks will not derail decision-makers and how they can be held accountable by the public. The case of Paks II is also compelling; as of today there are only 19 countries in the world that are in the process of new reactor building (World Nuclear Association, 2021). The project is aimed at providing and defending a precautionary approach to radioactive waste management because it involves high levels of uncertainty and the possibility of causing irreversible harm on a global scale. When investigating procedural principles of radioactive waste management policies by three types of precautionary approaches, the project will look at risks that stem from the displacement of politics in public consultations in relation to large infrastructural projects. The practices of the emerging era of public engagement tap into the current debates on democratic politics in political theory with the emergence of deliberative democracy (Bohman and Rehg, 1997; Dryzek, 2000; Gutmann and Thompson, 2009), and radical democracy (Laclau and Mouffe, 2001; Mouffe, 1999, 2000). Specific attention will be paid to the fragmentation of public along with technical and non-technical, local and national, site-specific and general issues, and the role of different political platforms (public exhibition events, consultation documents, and public engagement sessions) in the way in which the political is displaced from the arena of public inquiries to legal challenges and debates about boundaries and geographies.

The European Joint Programme on Radioactive Waste Management EURAD: update of its strategic research agenda

The European Joint Programme on Radioactive Waste Management EURAD brings together various research actors, namely waste management organisations (WMO), technical support organisations (TSO) and research entities (RE), to work on a joint strategic research agenda (SRA) focusing on deep geological disposal of radioactive waste. In total, 116 project partners from 23 countries have worked jointly since 2019 in collaborative RD&D work packages, strategic studies and various knowledge management activities. EURAD research is driven by the need for implementation of a deep geological repository and its safety, while aiming for scientific excellence. EURAD has developed a roadmap which is seen as a representation of a generic radioactive waste management (RWM) programme. The content is focused on what knowledge and competencies (including infrastructures) are considered most critical for RWM and implementation of deep geological disposal, in alignment with the EURAD vision. Here, the current SRA update process will be outlined from the perspective of Europe's research entities contributing to EURAD. In this context, the international network of research entities EURADSCIENCE plays a key role. EURADSCIENCE addresses – and will address during decades to come – scientific excellence in (the full lifecycle of) radioactive waste management from cradle to grave. As an independent, cross-disciplinary and inclusive organization, its overarching aim is to ensure scientific excellence and credibility in decision-making on RWM, regardless of national implementation status, waste type or national inventory. To this end, EURADSCIENCE will define and update its own SRA. The approach here is to maintain a holistic view of scientific disciplines and provide scientific excellence to advance progress of national radioactive waste management programmes, and to ensure scientific credibility of waste management concepts as well as addressing fundamental requirements related to knowledge management. More generally speaking, EURADSCIENCE aims to bring forward a vision that assures that scientific excellence and ever-developing scientific advances are integrated at any given time into the multigenerational implementation process of geological disposal. Similarly, the respective WMO and TSO networks, IGD-TP and SITEX, have developed their SRAs based on their specific roles and perspectives. Ultimately, the overlap between these SRAs will define the envelope for future European RD&D activities in the context of RWM. The update process has recently been consolidated after consultations between the three actor groups. Ultimately, the EURAD general assembly will have to approve the SRA update process regarding its alignment with the EURAD roadmap, the development of the seven existing SRA themes, the development of future RD&D activities via an EURAD exchange forum and the focus of RD&D planning for the next 10 years.

IAEA compiling state of knowledge and developing high level guidance in radioactive waste management

One endeavour central to the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) mandate is compiling the international state of knowledge (SoK), supporting transfer of knowledge and establishing high level guidance for all peaceful applications of nuclear technologies, including those specific to radioactive waste management (RWM). Building on the current state of experiences and knowledge shared with us from IAEA Member States, we are developing a comprehensive suite of documents on the technologies and solutions having the potential to address RWM needs and steps. This information can be used as a baseline to guide RWM in other countries. In a first approach, the information is compiled and developed in a sequence of documents covering a range of topical domains. These include: RW: inventory; characterization; use of waste acceptance criteria throughout all RWM steps. RWM steps: a series of handbooks presenting approaches to waste treatment, conditioning and storage; special applications supporting small inventory management needs (e.g. through mobile facilities); considerations specific to management needs of postaccident radioactive waste. Endpoints: introduction to design approaches and disposal concepts; managing site investigations; global compendium of Underground Research Facilities (URF) RD&D; special considerations for small inventory disposal. Programmatic considerations: a generic roadmap to deep geologic repository (DGR) implementation; cost estimation and funding of a disposal programme; stakeholder involvement in disposal. To improve on efficiency and to prove our capacity to compile and transfer an evolving state of knowledge on topics relevant to RWM, the IAEA is building a collection of online interactive contents based on these publications. This online interactive content ultimately aims at containing all our key guidance topics and is intended to provide easier and more rapid access to detailed information. The format would also allow its content to be expanded with descriptions and analyses of topical case studies.