Speaker
Description
IAEA Safety Standards and Euratom Council Directives provide the basis for the underlying legal and regulatory framework in radioactive waste management and decommissioning. However, their implementation can vary from country to country as they are adapted to local considerations and national policies.
The HARPERS project aims to establish and clarify the benefits and added value or possible disadvantages of more aligned and harmonised regulations, practices and standards in decommissioning and radioactive waste management. The project will support the activities of the European Joint Programme on Radioactive Waste Management (EURAD), Pre-disposal Treatment of European Radioactive Waste Streams (PREDIS) and Stakeholder-based Analysis of Research for Decommissioning (SHARE) projects. HARPERS connects with the wider European Community through, e.g., SNETP, IAEA, NEA, DigiDECOM, IGDTP, ENSREG and encourages interaction between different national programmes.
Identifying relevant regulatory differences and assessing the rationale for these differences and establishing the potential for their harmonisation relative to cross border services/facilities, moving to a circular economy and implementation of advanced technologies are the primary focuses of the HARPERS. The high-level benefits of more aligned and harmonised regulations are related to 1) greater business opportunities, 2) better understanding between diverse groups serving wider markets, 3) improved cost efficiency, 4) waste minimisation, 5) improved final disposability of waste. Realisation of these high-level benefits would contribute to enhancing the overall safety and economics of the nuclear sector.
