The Application of LSA/SCO-Regulations to Low- and Intermediate-Level Waste Shipments to Final Disposal Sites in Germany

According to the German disposal concept, all radioactive waste has to be emplaced in repositories constructed and operated in deep geological formations. As liquid and gaseous wastes are excluded from disposal in such a mine, only solid or solidified radioactive waste is accepted. The waste arises from nuclear power plant operation, decommissioning, nuclear fuel cycle industry and applications of radioisotopes in medicine, industry, and research. Two sites are presently considered for disposal of low and intermediate level waste: • In the abandoned Konrad iron ore mine in Lower Saxony it is planned to dispose of radioactive waste with negligible heat generation • The emplacement of waste in the former: Morsleben salt mine in Saxony-Anhalt, which was operated as a repository for short lived low and intermediate level waste with low alpha emitter concentrations, has been resumed in mid-January 1994. The shipments of low/intermediate level waste to these sites have to be performed in compliance with the LSNSCO requirements of the IAEA-Transport Regulations, Safety Series No.6 (IAEA 1990), but waste packages have also to meet specific waste acceptance requirements of the planned Konrad - or operating Morsleben - repository. It is necessary to pay attention to both transport and disposal requirements to derive appropriate waste package criteria for a safe waste management system as well as to obtain a consistent regulatory framework.