Representatives of over 40 Member States highlighted the value of the IAEA’s Integrated Review Service for Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management, Decommissioning and Remediation (ARTEMIS) for improving relevant national programmes, at a meeting held in Vienna last week.
Participants shared practical information and lessons learned from preparing for and implementing ARTEMIS missions to date. The feedback provided by the countries that have hosted missions so far will be used to further improve ARTEMIS reviews.
The ARTEMIS review service can be tailored to meet the specific needs of countries. It may cover entire national frameworks on decommissioning, remediation, radioactive waste management and spent fuel management. The reviews may consider the relevant legislation and regulatory systems as well as the countries’ resources, planning design and operation of the associated activities and facilities. They may also focus on a specific component of a programme.
“ARTEMIS addresses strategic approaches, technical aspects, safety framework and implementation in an integrated way,” said Mikhail Chudakov, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Energy. “In response to a Member State request, ARTEMIS brings the flexibility to design a mission tailored for each specific case, be it an overall national framework or a more focused area.”
Bruno Estanqueira Pinho of Brazil's Eletrobras Eletronuclear added: “Brazil requested ARTEMIS mission in order to review its radioactive waste characterization practices. We are looking forward to the final report with detailed recommenndations and suggestions, which we will use to improve our waste characterization methodology.”
Taking advantage of the option for reviewing the entire radioactive waste and spent fuel management national programme, several European Union countries have hosted ARTEMIS missions to help meet their obligations under a European Commission Directive 2011/70/EURATOM. The so called ‘waste directive’ requires its 28 Member States to invite international peer reviews in the area of safe radioactive waste and spent fuel management.
Krysztof Madaj, Deputy Director of Poland’s Radioactive Waste Management Plant, said they saw ARTEMIS as a unique opportunity to have an independent expert review of his country’s programme in this area. “The recommendations and suggestions we have received helped us to prepare a sound and realistic National Plan for Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management, which is currently being updated,” he said.
Since the launch of the ARTEMIS review service in 2017, the IAEA has conducted eight missions in seven Member States.
“There is an increasing demand for ARTEMIS missions. We received requests from 16 countries while other countries are considering requesting missions,” said Juan Carlos Lentijo, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security. “We organized this workshop to learn about the expectations and how we can best help our Member States in strengthening nuclear and radiation safety and waste management and decommissioning programmes globally.”
The ARTEMIS review service is based on the IAEA safety standards, technical guidance and international good practices.
