No solution has been definitively adopted in Belgium for the long-term management of the most highly radioactive category of nuclear waste. All parties agree on one thing however: a final decision should be taken by agreement with the public. Engaging in a dialogue with the public on such a controversial issue remains a problem. A report (1) by the SPIRAL laboratory of the University of Liege assesses progress madex in relation to this dialogue following the adoption of a waste plan by ONDRAF (National Agency for Radioactive Waste and Nuclear Fuels). 

Tens of thousands of cubic meters of nuclear waste exist in Belgium. According to data from ONDRAF, 80% of this waste is category A, the least dangerous kind, which represents only 0.5% of all nuclear waste activity. This category A waste also has the “shortest” half-life (several hundred years!). Nineteen percent of the total volume of waste is classed as category B, which represents 2% of the total amount of nuclear waste activity. Category C waste is the smallest type in terms of quantity (1% of volume) but is also the most radioactive and represents 97.5% of the total activity of the waste.  Category B and C waste represent a risk to humans and the environment which can last from several decades to several hundreds of thousands of years.

Most of this waste is currently being stored in vats located in buildings owned by the private company Belgoprocess, at Dessel (in Limbourg). A small amount of this waste is buried at a depth of 225 meters in the Boom clay formation at Mol which is a potentially suitable geological formation for receiving highly radioactive waste with a long half-life. The landfill waste site at Mol is currently the subject of experiments concerning the long-term feasibility of this method of disposal as a solution to the nuclear waste problem (2). 

Nuclear waste management has always been a controversial topic. In 2006, the government took a final decision with regard to category A waste: it is to be definitively stored in Dessel. The organization of this depot was the subject of an original initiative created in partnership with the local population and communal authorities. The fate of the most dangerous nuclear waste has not yet been decided.  A “waste plan” was adopted for this category of waste by ONDRAF in September 2011 and submitted to the Belgian government for approval. In this plan, ONDRAF explains that it has analyzed all possible waste-management options. From the outset ONDRAF rejected some possible solutions to the problem which would be in breach of international treaties or conventions which Belgium has signed up to (such as disposal at sea or under an ice cap), or which would be in breach of Belgian legislation (such as the injection of waste deep underground in liquid form) or which do not provide sufficient guarantees from a safety point of view (such as storing B and C category nuclear waste above ground).

(1) University of Liege, University of Antwerp, SPIRAL. “Socio-political process and management plan in a controversial context. Application of the long-term management plan for B and C category nuclear waste. Summary report”.
(2) At Mol, the underground laboratory HADES (High-Activity Disposal Experimental Site) has been constructed at a depth of 225 meters within Boom clay.  Experiments are being carried out there in order to respond to the scientific and technical questions relative to the feasibility of the final disposal of landfill radioactive waste. This underground facility is used by EURIDICE (European Underground Research Infrastructure for Disposal of Nuclear Waste in Clay Environment), an economic interest group created by ONDRAF and the Nuclear energy study-center of Mol.