2009 Report to Government on National Research and

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International Experience 3.157 Countries such as Sweden and Finland have good mechanisms for co-ordinating R&D but the waste inven<strong>to</strong>ries they have <strong>to</strong> deal with are orders of magnitude smaller and simpler than in the UK, and their <strong>Government</strong>, regula<strong>to</strong>ry and nuclear industry structures are less complex. The Swedish scheme of submission of the forward R&D programme <strong>to</strong> the regula<strong>to</strong>rs every 3 years, wide consultation, and subsequent recommendation <strong>to</strong> the <strong>Government</strong> by the regula<strong>to</strong>r (SSM) is commendable. The French system with a national commission evaluating the R&D and producing annual reports that are reviewed by a parliamentary commission also has much merit. The USA has mechanisms for co-ordinating geological disposal research but does not appear <strong>to</strong> have good mechanisms for co-ordinating other radioactive waste management research. The workshops organised by DOE in the USA are very good for discussing R&D requirements. CoRWM believes that similar workshops should be held in the UK, with participants from the European Union and other countries. CoRWM Document 2543, Oc<strong>to</strong>ber <strong>2009</strong> Page 62 of 151
4. R&D SKILLS TO SUPPORT THE MRWS PROGRAMME 4.1 In keeping with its terms of reference and as part of its scrutiny of the R&D undertaken, CoRWM is seeking <strong>to</strong> reassure itself that an appropriate skills base is, or will be, available <strong>to</strong> the UK <strong>to</strong> undertake R&D and that R&D is integrated in<strong>to</strong> skills development activities as an essential component in developing highlevel skills (Section 1). R&D skills <strong>to</strong> support the MRWS programme have <strong>to</strong> be viewed as part of a wider nuclear industry skills issue although some ‘new’ skills, particularly those associated with geological disposal, will be required. As with many existing skills, some of these new skills are available, and should be transferable, from non-nuclear areas such as the hydrocarbon and civil engineering industries. This section focuses on R&D skills relevant <strong>to</strong> MRWS but against the wider nuclear industry background. 4.2 R&D skills cannot be considered in isolation from the basic training of personnel and the two are considered in this report as integral components of the same issue. Although an attempt is made in this section <strong>to</strong> separate basic skills training from research training, the boundaries are inevitably diffuse. 4.3 Any attempt <strong>to</strong> review a continuously changing situation must inevitably date quite quickly. The information below has been updated <strong>to</strong> the end of summer <strong>2009</strong> as far as possible, except for those data lists where a partial update would destroy the comparative basis. Skills Requirements 4.4 A wide range of skills will be required for the long-term management of higher activity wastes, spread across many disciplines. Among the more obvious in the contexts of interim s<strong>to</strong>rage and geological disposal are nuclear science (including nuclear physics and radiochemistry), the geosciences (including geochemistry, geophysics and hydrogeology), materials science and civil and mechanical engineering (including geotechnics and underground construction). Many specialised skills will be required for the different phases of implementation of geological disposal such as site characterisation, construction, operation and closure of the GDF and significant R&D will be required <strong>to</strong> remove, reduce, or quantify the underlying uncertainties so as <strong>to</strong> produce a satisfac<strong>to</strong>ry site-specific safety case. 4.5 While the emphasis in this section is on the skills required for R&D, the wider skills and training issues are also considered and it is CoRWM’s intention <strong>to</strong> deal more fully with the specialist skills required for site characterisation and other aspects of geological disposal in its future work programme. In discussing the skills issue across the range of disciplines, it is appropriate <strong>to</strong> focus on those aspects that are primarily nuclear related. However, there are many non-nuclear aspects of, for example, the geological, materials and engineering sciences, that are particularly relevant and these are dealt with in paragraph 4.35 et seq.. Nuclear Skills – Current UK Situation 4.6 Since 2000, a succession of reports on nuclear skills and training (e.g. OECD/NEA, 2000; HSE-NII, 2002; NSG, 2002; Cogent, 2008) has identified a number of concerns including: CoRWM Document 2543, Oc<strong>to</strong>ber <strong>2009</strong> Page 63 of 151
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Committee on Radioactive Waste Mana
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Finland ...........................
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Geosphere Characterisation ........
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. CoRWM’s remi
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odies would need to</strong
Page 11 and 12: disseminate and assimilate its resu
Page 13 and 14: 1.3 CoRWM’s Work Programme for 20
Page 15 and 16: 1.11 The R&D requirements for the l
Page 17 and 18: 2. ESTABLISHING R&D REQUIREMENTS Wh
Page 19 and 20: adioactive waste management facilit
Page 21 and 22: should mitigate the risks of findin
Page 23 and 24: there is no unwarranted repetition
Page 25 and 26: safety case development, the overal
Page 27 and 28: Table 1. Approximate annual levels
Page 29 and 30: Figure 1. Structure of UK R&D provi
Page 31 and 32: NDA R&D for Geological Disposal 3.1
Page 33 and 34: 3.27 The purpose of NNL can be summ
Page 35 and 36: identified the research required an
Page 37 and 38: submitted to RCEP
Page 39 and 40: Box 1. Research Council Funded Univ
Page 41 and 42: 3.62 BGS is conducting three projec
Page 43 and 44: 3.70 In the current FP7 programme (
Page 45 and 46: 3.77 RCEP noted that there was a la
Page 47 and 48: sectors: land disp
Page 49 and 50: eyond those that RWMD intends <stro
Page 51 and 52: Box 2. USDOE 2006 Workshop R&D Issu
Page 53 and 54: 3.111 Fundamental and applied resea
Page 55 and 56: France 3.122 There are six major gr
Page 57 and 58: and in concert with Forpro is desig
Page 59 and 60: • encourage the transfer and pres
Page 61: comparison to othe
Page 65 and 66: Figure 3. UK Nuclear Skills Map Sou
Page 67 and 68: ensure the availability of a skille
Page 69 and 70: which is longer than the competitio
Page 71 and 72: Box 4. Postgraduate University Prov
Page 73 and 74: 4.30 The NDA also operates a gradua
Page 75 and 76: for NDA to acquire
Page 77 and 78: Retention of Skills 4.48 It has bee
Page 79 and 80: 5. INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIRED FOR R&D
Page 81 and 82: purchase of equipment. In addition,
Page 83 and 84: 5.23 The Pacific Northwest National
Page 85 and 86: 5.35 The range of possible function
Page 87 and 88: 5.40 Early in 2009
Page 89 and 90: 6. SOME R&D ISSUES 6.1 R&D carried
Page 91 and 92: interactions, the impact of highly
Page 93 and 94: 7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Page 95 and 96: 7.11 CoRWM has found that responsib
Page 97 and 98: and Appendix A is only intended <st
Page 99 and 100: Current and Planned R&D for ILW A.5
Page 101 and 102: wasteform integrity at end of s<str
Page 103 and 104: Magnox Fuel A.20 Magnox fuel consis
Page 105 and 106: capability exists in the UK for doi
Page 107 and 108: purpose-built building. The former
Page 109 and 110: pending a decision on its long-term
Page 111 and 112: through all these. The nature of th
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Box 7. Radionuclide Speciation Many
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could mix with the bulk hydrogen ga
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than that for uranium-235. Likewise
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near-field of the part containing t
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• Long-term stability and perform
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few millimetres to
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environment, all with the character
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Number Title 2500 Interim S
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EPSRC, 2009. Grant
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Nuclear Decommissioning Authority,
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Skomurski FN, Ewing RC, Rohl AL, Ga
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Co-location Disposal of “high lev
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Geosphere Solid portion of the eart
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Packaging Placing waste int
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Stillage A metal frame used <strong
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BNGSL British Nuclear Group Sellafi
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FP Framework Programme (of the Euro
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MOX mixed oxide fuel (contains uran
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RS Royal Society RSC Royal Society
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Leadership in the
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2009 Report to Government on National Research and

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