Framework Component - Waste Management Sites and Facilities

(Background Information - continued)

It is difficult to implement a single information system that could be used to collect and disseminate information about all radioactive waste in all IAEA Member States. Therefore, the IAEA has plans for a set of information systems to collect this information. (for additional discussions on this issue, please CLICK HERE to view a paper that was presented at the Waste Management '01 Symposium, February 2001). NOTE: To view the paper, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have Reader, click the link that follows. The links to the paper and to get Reader will open up a new window for your browser.

Regarding the NEWMDB itself, initially the reporting of radioactive waste inventories at waste management sites will be subject to the following limitations (the next page has explanations for (1), (2), (3) and (4), which appear in the table below).

PLEASE NOTE: During one of the NEWMDB workshops held in 2002, one Country Co-ordinator asked if the reporting of depleted uranium (Dep U) inventories was within the scope of the NEWMDB. Country Co-ordinators are requested to take note of the following:

• If a country has a class of radioactive waste called Depleted Uranium, then it (a) defines this waste class in the NEWMDB and (b) it reports the inventory of this waste (for the inventory that is within waste management facilities).

• If a country does not have a class of radioactive waste called Depleted Uranium but the country has designated some Dep U material as radioactive waste, then the country reports the inventory of this waste (for the inventory that is within in waste management facilities) as part of the inventory for the appropriate Member State class (e.g. LLW, Class C, etc).

In other words, if Dep U material is classified as radioactive waste and if this waste is in a waste management facility (not in situ, such as scattered across the country side after military action), then this radioactive waste gets reported within the scope of NEWMDB data collection...