Review Article

EURAD EC project – overview of the routes work package: identified key issues and open questions about waste management routes in Europe, from cradle to grave

¹ IRSN, B.P. 17, 92262 Fontenay-aux-Roses Cedex, France
² DMT GmbH & Co. KG, Friedrich-Ebert-Damm 145, 22047 Hamburg, Germany
³ ONDRAF/NIRAS, Avenue des Arts, 14, 1210 Brussels, Belgium
⁴ Galson Sciences Limited, 5 Grosvenor House, Melton Road, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 6AX, UK
⁵ DEKOM, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
⁶ SSTC NRS, PO Box 124, 35-37 V. Stusa Street, 03142 Kyiv, Ukraine
⁷ ANDRA, 1/7, Rue Jean Monnet Parc de la Croix-Blanche, 92298 Châtenay-Malabry Cedex, France
⁸ SURO, Bartoskova 1450/28, 14000 Prague 4, Czech Republic
⁹ Orano, 125 Av. de Paris, 92320 Châtillon, France
¹⁰ National Center for Scientific Research Demokritos, Athens, Greece
¹¹ Nuclear Transparency Watch 38, Rue Saint Sabin, 75011 Paris, France
¹² COVRA, Postbus 202, 4380 AE Vlissingen, The Netherlands
¹³ EIMV, Hajdrihova 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

^* e-mail: francois.marsal@irsn.fr

Received: 29 April 2022
Received in final form: 23 August 2022
Accepted: 8 September 2022
Published online: 9 January 2023

Abstract

The ROUTES Work Package (WP) is one of the two strategic studies being conducted as part of the European Joint Programme on Radioactive Waste Management (EURAD). ROUTES’ objectives are (i) to provide a framework for European Union’s member states (MS) to share methodologies, experiences, and knowledge in situations in which a waste management strategy is difficult to define as well as to (ii) to compare national approaches and strategies of waste management. The work considers national programmes at different stages of their development and deals with different amounts and types of radioactive waste. The expected output is identifying Research & Development (R&D) needs and opportunities for collaboration between MS, which need not be confined to ROUTES or EURAD frameworks. This work has enabled ROUTES partners to identify key issues such as retrieving poorly characterised legacy waste from a predisposal or disposal facility, implementing specific waste management solutions in the absence of well-defined WAC or developing innovative or shared solutions for MS that have only limited amounts of waste to manage. Discussion of these questions is illustrated through some of the case studies identified and analysed under the ROUTES WP.