Every country has a national responsibility under the IAEA Joint Convention and, for EU Member States, under the EC Waste Directive, to establish a programme and schedule for the safe management and disposal of radioactive wastes and spent fuel.

This requires substantial financial, technical, and human resources to be invested. Because many of the challenges faced are common to different countries, there are potential benefits to be gained through sharing knowledge, technologies and facilities.

  • Shared, multinational approaches to common problems have economic advantages: the work and the costs involved in developing a national programme can be reduced
  • Decades of cooperative RD&D have helped to optimise technical solutions but shared strategic initiatives to implement joint solutions and facilities can optimise the costs of waste management
  • There will be strategic and economic benefits for countries that make use of shared facilities – and also benefits to countries that host these.