Some substances contained in radioactive waste remain radioactive for a much longer period than the lifetime of the storage buildings. That is why ONDRAF/NIRAS is studying the possible solutions to definitively isolate the conditioned waste drums from man and the environment.


"Disposal" as a long-term solution

The various solutions being studied by ONDRAF/NIRAS for the long-term management of radioactive waste can be grouped together under the term "disposal". In a disposal infrastructure (repository), radioactive waste is stored in such a way that no active intervention by future generations would be required without, however, preventing such an intervention if these generations thought it useful.

The solutions being studied by ONDRAF/NIRAS must protect man and the environment from the potentially harmful effects of this waste at all times and in all circumstances. Safety is the ultimate goal of radioactive waste management. That is why, in a repository, the waste is isolated from man and the environment until its radioactivity is reduced by natural decay to a value that is only a fraction of the natural radioactivity to which we are all subject.

Each of the solutions being studied by ONDRAF/NIRAS must prevent:

• radiation emitted by the waste reaching the environment;
• radioactive substances contained in the waste reaching the biosphere.

The studies currently being carried out by ONDRAF/NIRAS are at the Research & Development stage. None of these solutions is in use to day.