EU drafts nuclear waste guidelines

Oct 27 - United Press International

The European Union says it will require member states to implement strategies for storage of nuclear waste, recommending deep burial underground.

About half the EU's member states have nuclear power stations, but all generate waste from a range of nuclear applications in medicine, industry, research and education, EUobserver reported Tuesday.

The European Commission, in its Directive on the Management of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste set to be released next week, says it wants that waste buried deep underground.

"It is broadly accepted at the technical level that deep geological disposal represents the safest and most sustainable option as the end point of the management of high level waste and spent fuel considered as waste," says the draft document.

The current buildup of above-ground waste stockpiles could pose environmental threats and become the target of a terrorist strike, the commission warned.

"Most countries have yet to take key decisions regarding the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste," the directive says. "The consequences of the delay are that burdens will be passed on to future generations, both to implement disposal as well as maintaining interim storage options."