International Conference on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, Decommissioning, Environmental Protection and Remediation: Ensuring Safety and Enabling Sustainability

Themes and Topics

Track 1 - Introducing the overarching concepts of ensuring safety and enabling sustainability

Exchanging views on the key concepts and principles that define the interrelationships between safety and sustainable development – for example on the one hand exploring the role of safety in achieving the UN SDGs by 2030, and on the other hand exploring “how safe is safe enough” to enable sustainability.

Topics of interest may include but are not limited to:
• The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development in a safety context, and vice-versa.
• Overarching principles of safety and sustainability and the synergies between them.
• Overview of probable conflicting factors between safety and sustainability.

Track 2 - Managing the interrelationships in policy, strategy, legislation, and regulation

Exchanging experiences in the management of radioactive waste, environmental protection, decommissioning and remediation as an integral part of establishing policy, legislation, and regulation to enable the sustainable use of nuclear technologies; and considering the impact of sustainability within the policies, the strategies, and the programmes.

Topics of interest may include but are not limited to:
• Legislative framework taking into account safety and sustainability aspects of emerging technologies and nuclear applications.
• Practical steps, including challenges and prospects, in managing the interrelationships between safety and sustainability in policy, strategy, and regulation.
• Regulations that can ensure safety and consider other factors that enable sustainability.
• Taking a risk-informed/graded approach to set the controls required by regulation in order to enable sustainability.
• Consideration of sustainability in the pre-licensing and licensing processes.

Track 3 - Managing the interrelationships between safety and sustainability in decision-making

Exchanging information and experiences on approaches and tools for integrating safety and sustainability in decision-making. Exploring ways in which existing safety concepts and principles (e.g., justification, optimisation, tolerability of risk, defence in depth, best available techniques, application of a graded approach) can help the identification of sustainable solutions.

Topics of interest may include but are not limited to:
• The role of Safety Assessment and Safety Case to support both safety and sustainability in decision-making.
• Sustainable management of risks and uncertainties in decision-making.
• Emerging tools, approaches, and methodologies for combining safety and sustainability to support decision-making.

Track 4 - Integrating the views of society into decision-making considering technical, environmental, social, and economic factors

Exploring the extent to which views of society influence the optimisation of protection in the context of safety. Exchanging experiences and lessons learned on engaging interested parties throughout different stages of implementation of nuclear technologies to help identify solutions that ensure safety while enabling sustainability.

Topics of interest may include but are not limited to:
• Roles and responsibilities of various interested parties in influencing safety decisions during the different stages of implementation of nuclear technologies.
• Sustainability and circular economy principles in the context of radioactive waste management, decommissioning and remediation.
• Challenges and opportunities of integrating the views of interested parties into decision making.
• Addressing competing priorities with finite resources in ensuring safety while enabling sustainable development.

Track 5 - Practical experiences in integrating safety and sustainable development

Sharing experience of integrating safety and sustainability in practice for example using novel approaches, innovative technologies and taking a lifecycle approach. Examples and learning from other industries are welcomed.

Topics of interest may include but are not limited to:
• Operating experiences, achievements, and lessons learned (including in policy and legislation, and regulation) in incorporating sustainability aspects in national programmes and projects.
• Examples and experiences in demonstrating safety and sustainability in all the different stages of implementation of radioactive waste management, decommissioning, environmental protection and remediation.
• Understanding responsibilities, when wider social, environmental, and economic considerations are taken into account for funding and financing long term liabilities to ensure safety and sustainability of activities at post-operation stage.
• Future scenarios on how safety and sustainable development maybe impacted by long term external changes.

Track 6 - Building capacity for ensuring safety and enabling sustainability

Exchanging information and ideas for promoting cross-sectoral learning; attracting, developing, and retaining professional resources to integrate safety and sustainable development; integrating sustainable development in the leadership, management, and culture for safety.

Topics of interest may include but are not limited to:
• Initiatives on mutual learning, and knowledge and experience transfer.
• Instruments on developing integrated and comprehensive planning for education and training in managing long term liabilities.
• Strategies for maintaining capacity in the long term to ensure that there are organizations with responsibilities and capacity to properly manage long term liabilities.

Track 7 - Regional and international cooperation for ensuring safety and enabling sustainability

Exchanging information on international and regional initiatives, legal instruments and guidance that do or could improve the integration of safety and sustainability.

Topics of interest may include but are not limited to:
• Role of international cooperation in improving integration of safety and sustainability.
• Lessons learned through the IAEA peer review services, advisory missions, and Review Meetings of Contracting Parties to the Joint Convention .
• Future role of international guidance and legal instruments in ensuring safety and enabling sustainability.
• International networks, infrastructure, and collaborative mechanisms for ensuring safety and enabling sustainability.