Webinar series focuses on global progress in HLW and SNF management

A new webinar series launched by the International Atomic Energy Agency's Department of Nuclear Energy, the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, and the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) will discuss global progress toward a permanent solution for high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel, with presentations by senior representatives of national HLW and SNF management programs around the world.

Register for the first webinar here.

This first webinar, "Restarting the Siting Process for HLW and SNF Storage and Disposal," will be held on Thursday, November 14, from 10:00 a.m.11:30 a.m. (CST), and will share experiences from national programs in Asia (Korea and Japan), Europe (Germany and U.K.) and the United States.

The webinar is open to the public and will provide opportunities for audience engagement and Q&A through a webinar chat function.

The agenda: Program representatives will convey insights on how large nuclear programs have restarted their siting process and are working toward providing the safe and accepted facilities needed to manage their HLW and SNF inventories. These national programs aim to establish a geological disposal facility and to ensure that adequate storage capacity is available until disposal operations can begin.

Speakers include Marla Morales, director of the DOE-NE's Office of Consent-Based Siting; Hiroyuki Umeki, integration advisor to NUMO, Japan; Haeryong Jung, director of HLW management at KORAD, Korea; Rachel Cornah, head of DGR site evaluation at Nuclear Waste Services, U.K. (to be confirmed); and an as yet unnamed senior representative from Germany's BGE Technology.

The webinar will be moderated by Seth Kirshenberg, ECA executive director, and Stefan Mayer from the IAEA.

Further developments: According to the IAEA, the webinar series will allow participants to share experiences from a range of IAEA member states' national programs and to learn how these key elements are being incorporated for successful implementation of both advanced and emerging disposal programs.

The series is intended to bring together subject matter experts, policymakers at all levels of government, regulators, and implementors to leverage expertise, facilitate mutual learning, and develop a path forward based on lessons learned.

Future webinar subjects will include the following:

• Why providing HLW and SNF storage and disposal is important to new nuclear power development.
• Progress in advanced programs: Canada, Finland, France, Sweden, and Switzerland.
• How to start the conversation on the right foot and how to learn and decide together.
• An introduction to the U.S. consent-based siting initiative and how does consent-based siting and new nuclear tie together.
• The science and engineering of each national program: a robust basis for safe and effective implementation.
• Effective governance and oversight of the national program.
• Long term liabilities: costing and funding for a national geological disposal program and the relative cost for storage until disposal.