Note 220      PC/100/ADD.4: Waste Management      
unced                                                   2:16 am  Jan 16, 1992

From: UNCED <unced>
Subject: PC/100/ADD.4: Waste Management

PC100/ADD.4 WASTE MANAGEMENT




                              Distr.
                              GENERAL

                              A/CONF.151/PC/100/Add.4
                              12 December 1991

                              Original:  ENGLISH


PREPARATORY COMMITTEE FOR THE UNITED
NATIONS CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Fourth Session
New York, 2 March - 3 April 1992
Item 2 (c) of  Plenary Session
Item 4 (c) of provisional agenda of Working Group II


PREPARATIONS FOR THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT
AND DEVELOPMENT ON THE BASIS OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION
44/228 AND TAKING INTO ACCOUNT OTHER RELEVANT GENERAL ASSEMBLY
RESOLUTIONS:

            SAFE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANAGEMENT
                      OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES

              (Section II, Chapter 14 of Agenda 21)

        Report of the Secretary-General of the Conference

                          INTRODUCTION

1.   This document has been prepared by the Secretary-General of
the Conference in response to the decision of the Preparatory
Committee taken at its third session in
A/CONF.151/PC/WG.II/L.21/Rev.1.  It is based on the guidance
provided by the Preparatory Committee on the structure of Agenda
21; as contained in A/CONF.151/PC/L.49*.  As a follow-up to the
discussions on Agenda item 4/c in Working Group II during the above
session, a note on the implementation of the Code of Practice on
the International Transboundary Movement of Radioactive Waste is
attached in the Annex of this document.  All texts taken verbatim
from Prep Com III document A/CONF.151/PC/WG.II/L.19/Add.2/Rev.1,
are inserted between double asterisks (** < > **) with reference to
the specific relevant paragraph number.  When the text has been
modified, the double asterisks have been left out and the words
"Derived from" are inserted before the reference to paragraph
numbers.

                         PROGRAMME AREA

PROMOTE THE SAFE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANAGEMENT OF
RADIOACTIVE WASTES THROUGH INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

Basis for action

2.   ** (L.19/Add.2/Rev.1) < In many parts of the world the amounts
of radioactive wastes, including those from nuclear power units,
medical centres, research institutes, industrial facilities, mining
operations, etc. are growing, [particularly in industrialized
countries].  Their safe and environmentally sound management,
including disposal, is critical, given their characteristics. > ** 
The OECD countries generated in 1987, approximately 271,000 m3 of
low and intermediate level radioactive wastes and the projected
quantities for 1995 are approximately 327,000 m3.  The
corresponding figures for developing countries, USSR and Eastern
Europe are 54,000 m3 and 154,000 m3 respectively 1/.  The
quantities of intermediate and low-level wastes being generated
amount to about 90-95 per cent of all radioactive wastes emanating
from power generators, which include also high-level wastes as well
as spent fuel.  At the end of 1987, the cumulative amount of
high-level radioactive wastes (HLW), including spent fuel was about
14,300 m3 in OECD countries and about 3,600 m3 in developing
countries2, USSR and Eastern Europe.

Objective

3.   ** (L.19/Add.2/Rev.1) To ensure that radioactive wastes are
safely managed and disposed of, with a view to protect human health
and the environment, > ** within a wider framework of an integrated
approach to nuclear safety at the international level.

Activities

Management related:

4.   The following activities should be undertaken:

     a.   ** (p. 1) < [To promote policies and practical measures
          to prevent and minimize the generation of radioactive
          wastes] > ** and provide for their safe treatment,
          conditioning and disposal.

     b.   Develop and promulgate radioactive waste safety standards
          as an internationally accepted basis for the safe
          management and disposal of radioactive wastes.

     c.   Ensure safe storage and disposal of radioactive wastes in
          developing countries, including spent radiation sources
          and spent fuel from power and research reactors, by
          transfer of relevant technologies to those countries.

International and Regional Cooperation and Coordination:

5.   The following activities should be undertaken:

     a.   ** (p. 3, 4, 5) < Governments should strengthen their
          efforts to implement the Code of Practice for
          International Transboundary Movement of Radioactive
          Waste, and, under the auspices of IAEA, keep the question
          of [the control of] such movements under active review,
          [including the desirability of concluding a legally
          binding instrument,] or [and work towards a target date
          for a legally binding convention] [including protocols on
          liability, compensation and compulsory insurance]

     b.   [Governments should invite the London Dumping Convention
          to replace the current voluntary moratorium on disposal
          of low-level radioactive wastes at sea by legally binding
          ban on such practice] or [Governments should encourage
          the London Dumping Convention to expedite work to
          complete studies on replacing the current voluntary
          moratorium on disposal of low-level radioactive wastes at
          sea taking into account the precautionary approach, with
          a view to take a well informed decision on this issue.]

     c.   [Governments and international organizations should not
          allow the disposal of high-, intermediate- and low-level
          radioactive wastes into, under and next to the seabed.]
          > ** unless scientific evidence shows that such disposal
          poses no unacceptable risks to man and the environment.

     d.   ** (p.6) < [Governments should respect the aims of the
          Bamako Convention and other relevant regional conventions
          prohibiting the import of all hazardous wastes, including
          radioactive wastes.] > **

Means of Implementation

Financial and Cost Evaluation:

6.   The costs at national level to manage and dispose of
radioactive wastes are considerable and will vary, depending on the
technology used for disposal3.

7.   An annual cost of about US$ 8 million will be needed to
implement this programme through international organizations
(mainly IAEA) to further develop international regulations, to
promote research policies and international cooperation and to
support developing countries to take preventive and corrective
action.

Scientific and Technological Means:

8.   The following activities should be undertaken:

     a.   ** (p. 2) < [To promote research on transmutation of
          highly radioactive wastes and the development of
          environmentally sound technologies in this area] > **

     b.   Establish research and assessment programmes concerned
          with evaluating the health and environmental impact of
          radioactive waste disposal.

Capacity Building (including Human Resources Development):

9.   Assistance to developing countries to establish and/or
strengthen radioactive waste management infrastructures - including
regulations, organizations, trained manpower and facilities for the
handling, processing, storage and disposal of wastes, generated
from nuclear applications.

EXPLANATORY NOTES:

1.   The quantities are based on the world's total installed
     nuclear capacity in 1987 and the projected nuclear capacity in
     1995.  They should be used for trend purposes only, since
     waste quantities can vary significantly depending on
     underlying assumptions to determine the amounts generated per
     installed 1,000 megawatts of electric power.  The quoted
     figures include radioactive waste generated from commercial
     plant decommissioning.
     These wastes are primarily LLW since almost 99 per cent of the
     radioactivity in a reactor at shutdown is contained in the
     spent fuel elements, which are removed from the reactor vessel
     at decommissioning and do not constitute part of the
     decommission wastes. (Source:  NEA/OECD)

2.   The quoted figures from high-level wastes do not include
     wastes from military programmes.

3.   A number of countries have established special methods of
     funding nuclear waste management and disposal programmes, and
     nuclear plant decommissioning.  These methods include charging
     nuclear electricity producers a small fee per kilowatt-hour of
     electrical generation to cover current and expected costs. 
     The charges are already being included in the electricity rate
     in several countries.  Because of the vast amounts of
     electricity produced, these small levies are expected to
     adequately finance nuclear waste management and disposal
     programmes.  On a percentage basis, they are generally
     expected to range from 2-6 per cent of the total production
     costs of nuclear power.  In absolute terms, total estimated
     costs vary considerably - an estimated US$ 5.7 billion in
     Spain to US$ 30 billion in the United States - depending upon
     the size and requirements of a country's nuclear power and
     fuel-cycle programme, based on reports at an IAEA symposium in
     Vienna in 1987.  (Source:  International Atomic Energy Agency,
     "Back End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle:  Strategies and Options",
     Proceedings of a Symposium, Vienna, 11-15 May 1987, jointly
     organized by IAEA and NEA/OECD, Vienna (1987) - STI/PUB/758).

                              ANNEX

SAFE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE
WASTES: REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE IAEA ON THE CODE OF
PRACTICE ON THE INTERNATIONAL TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENT
                 OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE

Introduction

1.   The disposal of radioactive waste is principally a matter that
is controlled at the national level by applying national standards
and regulations that are based on internationally accepted
principles for radiation protection.  The amounts of radioactive
wastes, while growing, remain a very small fraction of the volume
of chemically hazardous wastes, and all countries having nuclear
power programmes, also have programmes to safely manage the
resulting radioactive wastes.  Disposal of low- and
intermediate-level radioactive wastes has been safely practised in
a number of countries for many years, and international consensus
has been reached on the feasibility of deep geologic repositories
for the safe disposal of high-level wastes and spent nuclear fuel,
when it has been determined to be waste.

2.   At the request of Member States, the IAEA is developing the
Radioactive Waste Safety Standards (RADWASS) series of
international consensus standards to document the harmonization
that exists at the international level on principles and criteria
for radioactive waste management, including disposal of radioactive
wastes.  Based on the recommendation of a Safety Conference
conducted by the Agency in September 1991 and adopted by the
General Conference, the Agency is developing a proposal on elements
of an integrated international approach to all aspects of nuclear
safety, including the disposal of radioactive wastes.

The Code of Practice

3.   The IAEA General Conference at its 34th Session in September
1990 adopted by consensus a Code of Practice on the International
Transboundary Movement of Radioactive Waste (CG(XXXIV)/RES/530) and
decided to keep the question of international transboundary
movement of radioactive waste under active review, including the
desirability of concluding a legally binding instrument under the
auspices of the IAEA.

4.   The Code of Practice should serve as guidelines to States for
the development and harmonization of laws on the international
transboundary movement of radioactive waste.  Taking into account
the provisions of the Basel Convention on the Control of
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal 1/,
it affirms the sovereign right of every State to prohibit the
movement of radioactive waste into, from or through its territory. 
The Code affirms that any transboundary movement of radioactive
waste should only take place in accordance with internationally
accepted safety standards, with the prior notification and consent
of the sending, receiving and transit States, and in accordance
with their respective laws and regulations.

5.   The Code exhorts every State not to permit the receipt of
radioactive waste for management or disposal unless it has the
administrative and technical capacity and regulatory structure for
management and disposal of such waste in a manner consistent with
international standards.  The sending State should satisfy itself
that this requirement is met prior to the international movement of
radioactive waste.  It provides that the sending State should
permit readmission into its territory of any radioactive waste
previously transferred from its territory if such a transfer i3 not
or cannot be completed in conformity with this Code unless an
alternative safe arrangement can be made.  Finally, the Code
requests every State to adopt the necessary laws and regulations to
ensure that the international transboundary movement of radioactive
waste is carried out in accordance with this Code and to cooperate
at the bilateral, regional, and international levels for the
purpose of preventing any international transboundary movement of
radioactive waste that is not in conformity with this Code.

6.   The Code also states that the Agency should continue to
develop relevant technical standards and provide advice and
assistance on all aspects of radioactive waste management and
disposal, having particular regard to the needs of developing
countries.

Monitoring implementation of the Code:  national laws and
regulations

7.   Following adoption of the Code of Practice by the IAEA's
General Conference, the Director-General, in order to monitor the
implementation of the Code, requested Member States in January
1991, by circular letter, to inform the Secretariat (i) whether
they had adopted legislation and/or appropriate procedures for the
regulation of international transboundary movement of radioactive
waste; (ii) whether such legislation was in accordance with the
provisions of the Code of Practice; and (iii) whether they had any
experience relevant to the implementation of the Code.

8.   This request for information followed a survey conducted in
1989 as preparatory work for the Code of practice on the basis of
laws, regulations, national guidelines and codes provided by 40
Member States, in order to determine whether provisions regarding
international transactions involving radioactive waste had been
enacted, and to identify relevant general principles contained in
that legislation that could be incorporated in the Code of
Practice.

9.   That survey disclosed that most radioactive waste legislation
was of recent origin, and made a distinction between radioactive
(nuclear) waste and hazardous chemical and industrial wastes. 
Almost all legislation provided for a system of licensing and or
control of all radioactive waste related activities.  A few,
notably developing countries informed the Agency that they had not
enacted any laws on waste management as there was no radioactive
waste generated by nuclear power installations.  Low-level
radioactive waste from hospitals and research institutions was
either shipped to other countries on the basis of bilateral
agreements, or stored in an appropriate location in accordance with
safety rules established by the national institutions concerned. 
Some countries had established national guidelines on radioactive
waste management and control, or intended to draft radioactive
waste management laws to coincide with a beginning nuclear power
programme.  Several legislations reviewed contained provisions on
the transport of radioactive substances and wastes within the
national territory (in accordance with the IAEA regulations). 
Principles regarding liability (of the operator, or generator) were
also contained in some of the laws.  Among the general principles
most usually found in the legislation reviewed was the protection
of man and the environment, the safety of all operations concerning
radioactive wastes.

10.  As regards the information requested in 1991 from Member
States in order to ascertain the conformity of existing legislation
with the Code of Practice, and to obtain further insight into
country experience with transboundary movements of radioactive
waste, replies were received from over 30 countries in Europe, the
Asian and Arab regions, Africa, and Latin America.

11.  Almost all countries, notably of Europe, confirmed the
existence of legislation and procedures for the regulation of
radioactive waste management, which generally included provisions
for movement of such waste within the national territory.  Most
countries having enacted such legislation affirmed that its content
was in accordance with the general principles established by the
IAEA Code of Practice.  Countries that had so far not adopted
pertinent legislation on radioactive waste management, indicated
that they intended to do so, and to take the Code of Practice into
account in drafting new legislation.

12.  As regards State practice regarding the transboundary movement
of radioactive waste, the experience reported ranges from the
return to the supplier of spent sealed sources - a practice
reported by a number of developing countries - to a control or
licensing system for the import and export of wastes, a
"notification-authorization" system, and, in more recent
legislation, notably in Africa, the strict prohibition of export,
import or transit of radioactive waste.

Follow-up

13.  Whilst it is certainly premature to judge, only one year after
its adoption by the IAEA General Conference, the Code of Practice's
effectiveness as a means to harmonize national approaches or to
prevent illegal movements worldwide, few countries only have
expressed specifically their preference for an international
convention in this area.

14.  It is therefore the Agency's intention to continue keeping the
issue under active consideration, to consult with its Member
States, and review, in conjunction with ongoing efforts to
establish a nuclear safety convention, the need to develop a
convention or protocol on transboundary radioactive waste
movements.

Other issues

15.  Regarding the broader context of nuclear safety, the IAEA
General Conference at its 35th Session adopted a resolution
regarding "Measures to Strengthen International Cooperation in
Matters Relating to Nuclear Safety and Radiological Protection"
(GC(XXXV)/RES/553) stressing, inter alia, "the need to consider a
harmonized international approach to all aspects of nuclear safety,
including safety objectives for nuclear waste".

                              Notes

1.   The Executive Director of UNEP in a letter dated 21 January
     1991 to Dr. H. Blix, Director General of the IAEA, confirmed
     that "the provisions of the Basel Convention on the Control of
     Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
     have been taken into account.  I refer, in particular, to the
     two most important principles in the Basel Convention, namely,
     the sovereign right of every State to prohibit the movement of
     waste into, from or through its territory, as well as the
     principle of prior written notification and consent of the
     sending, receiving or transit States.  This constitutes, in my
     opinion, the implementation of resolution 5 adopted by the
     Basel Conference in March 1989 and titled "Harmonization of
     Procedures of the Basel Convention on the Control of
     Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
     and the Code of Practice for International Transactions
     Involving Nuclear Wastes."  UNEP fully supports the decision
     of the General Conference to keep the question of the
     international movement of radioactive waste under active
     review including the desirability of including a legally
     binding instrument under the auspices of the IAEA.

2.   For the Commission of the European Communities, the
     Director-General for the Environment, Nuclear Safety and Civil
     Protection noted that "the Code, aiming at preventing possible
     radiological dangers arising from unauthorized and improper
     management and disposal of radioactive waste, contributes to
     the transparency of nuclear operations.  ... The Community
     [has] progressed in the same direction through the adoption,
     on 15 December 1989, of the Fourth ACP-CEE Convention known as
     the Lome 4 Convention.  The Convention prohibits the export of
     radioactive waste from the Community to the 68 ACP States and
     the import into the ACP States of such waste from any other
     country.  The Convention specifically makes reference to the
     IAEA for the definition of radioactive waste ...".


END OF DOCUMENT