Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management

The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, adopted in Vienna on 5 December 1997, seeks to achieve and maintain, worldwide, a high level of safety in the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, by improving national measures and international cooperation.

Luxembourg has been a party to the Convention since 1 October 1997. The Convention was transposed into national law on 20 June 2001.

Review Meetings are held every three years. The review process is broken down into several stages, notably including the preparation of a national report describing how the contracting parties are implementing their obligations under the Convention. Generally, the review focuses on the progress made over the previous three years. This stage is following by mutual analysis in the form of written questions and answers and an oral presentation at the Review Meeting.

At the 7th Review Meeting held from 27 June to 8 July 2022 in Vienna, the following issues were highlighted as challenges for Luxembourg to be followed up in three years' time:

  • Catching up on activities that could not be carried out following the reassignment of staff to other tasks as part of the response to the pandemic.
  • Negotiation of a contract with the Belgian Waste Management Agency (ONDRAF/NIRAS) on the transfer of collected waste.
  • Implementation of a national action plan covering the recommendations and suggestions from the ARTEMIS mission.

Additionally, the following examples of good performance were highlighted:

  • A bilateral agreement with Belgium on the safe and effective processing and final disposal of radioactive waste from Luxembourg. This could serve as a model for other small countries that have no nuclear energy activities and where the construction of a specific facility would be disproportionate.
  • With regard to safety and waste reduction, encouragement to reduce the use of radioactive materials (e.g. replacement of radioactive sources by X-ray equipment) and legal requirements to justify the choice of technology in the authorisation process.
  • Publication of the joint national action plan in response to the IRRS and ARTEMIS missions.

It should be noted that the bilateral agreement with Belgium is the only such agreement of its kind. For this reason, and with the support of Luxembourg, Belgium has been recognised as demonstrating best practice. Best practice is reserved for innovative techniques and solutions that are unique in the world and that can also help improve the safety of radioactive waste in other countries.

The 8th Review Meeting of the contracting parties of the Joint Convention was scheduled for 17 to 28 March 2025. The deadline for the submission of the national report to the IAEA was 16 August 2024.

The various documents prepared by the Radiation Protection Division (Division de la radioprotection - DRP) under this Joint Convention

National Report on the measures taken by Luxembourg to fulfil the obligations laid down in the: "Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management"

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