Nuclear Waste Storage Development in South Africa

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Oswald Hudson
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1 Nuclear Waste Storage Development in South Africa Nuclear Africa 2017 Conference National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute Dr Wolsey Barnard CEO Date: 30 March 2017

2 PRESENTATION OBJECTIVES The objectives of this presentation are:- background to National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI); to provide information on the status of operationalisation of the NRWDI; overview of Radioactive Waste in South Africa; and NRWDI s key priorities going forward.

3 NATIONAL RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL INSTITUTE (NRWDI) Cabinet approved and published the radioactive waste management policy and strategy in Nov 2005; The National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute Act (NRWDIA) (Act no. 53 of 2008) became effective on the 1st December 2009; NRWDI is responsible for discharging an institutional obligation as defined in Section 1 of the Nuclear Energy Act, which relates to the disposal and related waste management of radioactive waste on a national basis; NRWDI a Schedule 3A public entity;

4 FUNCTIONAL MANDATE OF NRWDI Manage radioactive waste disposal on a national basis; Operation of the Vaalputs repository; Develop criteria for accepting and disposing radioactive waste; Manage, operate and monitor operational radioactive waste disposal facilities Site, design and construct new disposal and related facilities as required; Define and conduct research and development aimed at finding solutions for long-term radioactive waste management; Maintain a national radioactive waste database; Manage ownerless radioactive waste on behalf of the Government; and Implement any assignments or directives from the Minister regarding radioactive waste management.

5 OPERATIONALISATION OF NRWDI 5

6 STRICT REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS The Nuclear Act, Section 20 (1) of the Act states that No person may site, construct, operate, decontaminate or decommission a nuclear installation, except under the authority of a nuclear installation licence to be issued by the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR). The NNR will ONLY authorise an activity if the safety case provided to the NNR meets the requirements of the NNR Regulation 388: REGULATIONS ON SAFETY STANDARDS AND REGULATORY PRACTICES

7 KEY OPERATIONALISATION HIGHLIGHTS NRWDI as an entity was established with the appointment of the 1st Board in January 2014, but became operationalised from the end of 2016 with the appointment of staff to the Institute. With the appointment of the CEO on 01 st October 2016, the day-to day operations of the Institute were handed over to the NRWDI management team. The 2nd Board was appointed beginning of February The Institute received for the first time a baseline budget from NT for the MTEF period. Institute has implemented actions to ensure that the Institute is compliant with respect to internal and external processes. The Institute s functional structure was revised and aligned to the strategic plan and annual performance plan outcomes. 7

8 FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE 8

9 RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK

10 OVERVIEW OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN SOUTH AFRICA 10

11 COMMISSIONING OF VAALPUTS Site selection completed in 1985 Vaalputs Waste Disposal Property km2 Site operating license granted in 1986 First waste shipment arrived in November 1986 Only solidified or solid low level waste are disposed off. Current disposal area is 1 km2 of which 12% has been used over past 30 years 11

12 VAALPUTS NATIONAL WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITY

13 KEY FOCUS OF NRWDI Core business: Disposal of radioactive waste on a national basis Core asset: National Radioactive Waste Disposal Site (Vaalputs) Current: Disposal site must be managed to ensure uninterrupted waste disposal services for LLW. National Radioactive Waste Inventory Database Functional shift of Vaalputs from Necsa to NRWDI. Improve financial sustainability of Institute Future: Disposal facilities must be expanded to include all classes of radioactive waste (CISF, ILW, HLW, etc)

14 FUNDING MODEL

15 REVENUE GENERATION OPTIMISATION In order for the Institute to optimise it revenue generation, it has commenced with initiatives to address the following critical aspects:- Functional shift of Vaalputs, which includes the obtaining of Nuclear Installation Licence for Vaalputs operations. Renegotiation of the waste disposal contracts with NECSA and Eskom. Exploring alternative sources of revenue. Development of a cost recovery model for the operations of the Institute to ensure optimal cost recovery. Collation of information required to determine the base rate for the proposed tax levy in the Radioactive Waste Management Fund Bill.

16 CONCLUSION NRWDI is operational and the Management team has from October 2016 operationalised various key governance/compliance elements to ensure that all mandatory aspects are implemented or in the process of being executed; NRWDI will deliver its mandate irrespective of a new build programme or not, since the country has for the last 50 years been involved in the nuclear industry and nuclear research / operations, and the radioactive waste will have to be disposed in a safe, technically sound, environmentally responsible, economically feasible and societally acceptable manner. This will be delivered in an integrated and accountable approach to ensure that no undue burden is placed on future generations due to past, present and future involvement in nuclear programs. Resource constrains is a serious challenge to the Institute in order to deliver its core mandatory function.

17 THANK YOU

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