KOSEN 한인과학기술자네트워크

This Technical Position Paper has been prepared in order to provide a compilation, in an international perspective, of information on underground testing facilities for the deep disposal of high-level and/or long-lived radioactive waste. It is based on the results of a questionnaire that was sent out to the national organisations (implementing agencies, regulatory authorities, Research & Development institutions) represented within the SEDE (the NEA Co-ordinating Group on Site Evaluation and Design of Experiments for Radioactive Waste Disposal) and represents their views on the subject, together with input from other recent commentaries and reviews of the use of underground facilities for the deep disposal of high-level and/or long-lived radioactive waste. The Position Paper is aimed at being beneficail to technical decision-makers in helping them in planning underground programmes, so that the best use can be made of existing and planned underground facilities. It concentrates on potential future uses of existing and planned underground facilities by analysing strategic and programmatic aspects, the regulatory framework in which to view the future uses of underground testing facilities, and the link with the overall dicision-making process in the stepwise approach to repository development. In particular, it reviews the possible requirements for further work after nearly 30 years of in situ activities and assesses the relationships and contrasts between underground facilities where generic R&D takes place and those located at proposed disposal sites.