NEA (2017), National Inventories and Management Strategies for Spent Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste, OECD Publishing, Paris
Radioactive waste inventory data are an important element in the development of a national radioactive waste management programme since these data affect the design and selection of the ultimate disposal methods. Inventory data are generally presented as an amount of radioactive waste under various waste classes, according to the waste classification scheme developed and adopted by the country or national programme in question. Various waste classification schemes have evolved in most countries, and these schemes classify radioactive waste according to its origin, to criteria related to the protection of workers or to the physical, chemical and radiological properties of the waste and the planned disposal method(s).
The diversity in classification schemes across countries has restricted the possibility of comparing waste inventories and led to difficulties in interpreting waste management practices, both nationally and internationally. To help improve this situation, the Nuclear Energy Agency developed a methodology that ensures consistency of national radioactive waste and spent fuel inventory data when presenting them in a common scheme in direct connection with accepted management strategy and disposal routes. This report is a follow up to the 2016 report that introduced the methodology and presenting scheme for spent fuel, and it now extends this methodology and presenting scheme to all types of radioactive waste and corresponding management strategies.