Radioactive waste is mainly generated from the production of electricity in nuclear power plants, or from the non-power-related use of radioactive materials for medical, research, industrial and agricultural purposes.
All EU countries generate radioactive waste, and 17 of them also manage spent fuel on their territory. Owing to its radiological properties and the potential hazard it poses, it is important to ensure the safe management of radioactive waste and spent fuel at all stages. It requires containment and isolation from humans and the living environment over a long period of time.
Radioactive waste is any radioactive material in gaseous, liquid or solid form that is not going to be used any longer. The material has to be controlled as radioactive waste by a regulatory body under the legislative and regulatory framework.
Disposal of waste
Progress has been made in safely disposing of very-low-level and low-level waste in the EU and significant progress has been made on the construction of a deep geological disposal (DGR) for spent fuel in Finland where the disposal operations are scheduled to start in 2024. In Sweden, the construction licence for DGR was provided in 2024 and in France, activities on the DGR for High-Level Waste are well under way also at the Cigéo site.
Supervision and control of shipment
The shipment of radioactive waste and spent fuel, through import, export and transit, are common practices that occur regularly in the EU.
The EU's Directive on Shipments of Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel (2006/117/Euratom) establishes a system of prior authorisation for such shipments in Europe. It also
- requires operators to notify national authorities about shipments of radioactive materials which depart from, go through, or end up in the EU
- allows EU countries to ship spent fuel to each other for reprocessing and organise the return of the resulting radioactive materials
- allows EU countries to send shipments of radioactive materials that do not comply with the directive back to their country of origin
- prohibits the export of radioactive waste to African, Caribbean or Pacific countries, to Antarctica, or to any country which does not have the resources to safely manage it
National programmes and reports
The EU's Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management Directive (2011/70/Euratom) requires that all EU countries have a national policy for spent fuel and radioactive waste management and that they draw up and implement national programmes for the management of these materials. The programmes should cover all types of spent fuel and radioactive waste under EU countries’ jurisdiction and all stages of spent fuel and radioactive waste management from generation to disposal.
Every 3 years since August 2015, EU countries submit national reports on the implementation of the directive to the Commission. Based on those, the Commission drafts a report on the overall implementation of the directive and an inventory of radioactive waste and spent fuel present in the Community’s territory and the future prospects.
The below list provides links to each national programme and the national reports, as submitted by EU countries.
In the reference period covered by the second national reports (2018), the United Kingdom was still a Member State of the Euratom Community.
Self-assessments and reviews
EU countries carry out self-assessments and invite international peer reviews of their national framework, competent authorities and/or national programme at least every 10 years. The first full round of international peer reviews was carried out under the Integrated Review Service for Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management, Decommissioning and Remediation (ARTEMIS) provided by the IAEA, and was completed in 2023; all reports are published on the IAEA website.
Documents
- Euratom report on the implementation of the obligations under the Joint Convention - 7th Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties (2021)
- Euratom report on the implementation of the Joint Convention - 6th Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties (2018)
- Euratom report on the implementation of the Joint Convention - 5th Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties (2015)
- Euratom report on the implementation of the Joint Convention - 4th Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties (2012)