Treatment and conditioning Interim storage Disposal Transboundary movements & other transport Research

4.1.1 Canada: Phase 1 of the upgrades to the liquid wastes treatment system at the Chalk River Treatment Centre is complete and the system came into service in March 2000. The key component of the system is a new liquid waste evaporator.

4.1.2 Germany: The construction of the Karlsruhe Vitrification Facility (VEK) for HLW is going ahead as scheduled following the issue of its construction licence in 1999. The facility is expected to start by 2004.

4.1.3 Switzerland: ZWILAG, the Swiss installation for all categories of radioactive waste, and for LLW incineration and conditioning, was officially inaugurated on 27 April 2000. The facility can accept wastes from June 2000 and the first will be six shipments of spent fuel from the Leibstadt reactor. High level waste resulting from reprocessing of Swiss spent fuel at the La Hague facility is also expected.

4.1.4 Korea: A pilot cold crucible vitrification facility has been officially opened in Taejon. The plant, developed by SGN Nuclear Engineering in Partnership with NETEC (a division of KEPCO), uses a process developed by the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). The plant will demonstrate the technical feasibility and economic viability of using the process on intermediate and low-level waste, particularly ion exchange resins.

4.2.1 Finland: Fortum energy group has commissioned the second extension of the Loviisa NPP's storage facility pools. Spent fuel will be stored for 15-20 years and then it will be transported to a final repository, which is expected to be commissioned by 2020.

4.2.2 Germany: 16 interim storage facilities for spent fuel are expected in addition to the 4 existing facilities (the existing facilities are: three centralised facilities at Ahaus, Gorleben, and ZNL near Grenwald; and one on-site facility at Obrigheim). Twelve applications for on-site storage are pending for Lingen, Brokdorf, Unterwester, Stade, Grohnde, Krümmel, Brunsbüttel, Biblis, Neckarwestheim, Phillippsburg, Grafenrheinfeld and Isar.

4.2.3 Switzerland: the board of ZWILAG has authorised the construction of an additional storage building for LLW/ILW to begin in 2000 at Würenlingen. This additional facility will mitigate the negative consequences to the nuclear power plant operators of further delays of the LLW/ILW repository at Wellenberg.

4.2.4 USA: Work on the Spent Nuclear Fuel Dry Storage Project at the Idaho National Environment and Engineering Laboratory (INEEL) began in June. The facility will provide 55 tonnes capacity for spent fuel storage for TRIGA research reactor fuel and other fuels currently stored at INEEL.

4.3.1 Belgium: In October 1999, Belgium's nuclear waste agency ONDRAF/NIRAS signed a first local partnership agreement with the city of Dessel, near Mol, to find a suitable LLW/ILW disposal site.

4.3.2 Greater China: Taipower is hoping to submit an environmental impact assessment by the end of 2000 for its site investigations at Little Chiu islet for a final repository for low level radioactive waste.

4.3.3 Slovakia: Testing of the new waste treatment centre and a national repository began in March 2000.

4.4.1 Belgium: The first vitrified residues transport from COGEMA La Hague to Dessel, Belgium, was successfully completed on 5 April 2000. A further two transports are planned from France to Belgium before Spring 2001.

4.4.2 Japan: The Pacific Swan, a purpose built nuclear carrier operated by Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited (PNTL), has successfully completed the fifth shipment of vitrified waste from France to Japan. The vessel, carrying four casks containing 104 canisters of residue from spent fuel reprocessing, left the French port of Cherbourg on 29 December 1999 and after passing through the Panama Canal, arrived at the northern Japanese port of Mutsu Ogawara on 23 February 2000. The total number of canisters received by the storage centre to date is 272, from 5 shipments.

4.5.1 France: The French waste agency ANDRA continues its work on the Est site selected in December 1998 for the construction and operation of an underground research laboratory. Digging and servicing works began on 1 February 2000. The first drilling was due to start during April 2000.

4.5.2 Russia: Research for a repository for LILW on permafrost is under way and receiving funding from the European Commission's environment directorate and the Norwegian and Swedish governments.

4.5.3 Sweden: The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company, SKB, plans to be able to choose at least two sites for investigations in 2001 for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel in a deep geological repository. The site characterisation, including drilling of the chosen sites, should start in 2002.

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