Arius assists in the establishment of the new ERDO Association

After more than ten years of preparation, organizations from various European countries joined forces and, in January 2021, set up a new multinational Association: ERDO – the Association for Multinational Radioactive Waste Solutions.

Before its establishment, the organizations worked together in the ERDO Working Group, which involved the cooperation between eight countries with smaller amounts of radioactive waste (see article below on this page).

Arius has been centrally involved in the Working Group from the beginning, acting as the Secretariat, and has been instrumental in facilitating the transition to the new Association.

The aim of the ERDO Association is to work together to address the common challenges of safely managing the long-lived radioactive wastes in our countries and to carry out the necessary groundwork to enable the establishment of one or more operational, shared multinational waste management solutions. That goal is a step closer with the new Association.

The Association was established on January 7 in Vlissingen, the Netherlands by the signing of the articles of association by the founding Board members. Organizations from the Working Group will join the association during 2021 and further organisations supporting the aims are also being invited to become members.

The ERDO concept, based on the ‘dual-track approach’, has also attracted interest from countries and regions outside Europe and Arius has been active for more than a decade in promoting the idea of countries working together on a regional basis to find shared waste management solutions.

Mission accomplished!

Arius feels that the establishment of ERDO, after fifteen years of studies and discussions, marks the beginning of a new phase of opportunities for multinational solutions. In many senses, this major milestone marks the culmination of our core promotional work and information service. From a beginning when Arius observed almost no support for the concept of shared waste management solutions (indeed, widespread opposition), we have seen our activities take the idea into the mainstream of international discussions. Dual-track is now encouraged by the IAEA and has taken its place in the formal policies of many countries. Effectively, we see ERDO as achieving our founding vision and ambition: of organisations working actively together to explore and implement future options.

The activities of Arius are thus expected to decline over the coming year, as ERDO picks up the baton and becomes the ‘go-to’ place for advice for any countries and regions wishing to explore multinational solutions. In due course we expect Arius to cease operations and donate its accumulated knowledge base to the ERDO secretariat. We shall be discussing options for this with Arius members during 2021.

Arius Contributes to IFNEC Multinational Repository Webinar, July 2020

On July 8, 2020, the RNFSWG of IFNEC organised a webinar on “The Multinational Repository Concept: Shared Solutions for Solving the Waste Management Challenge facing Emerging Countries and those with Small Nuclear Programs”. The presentations and panel discussion focussed on shared waste management solutions for current and emerging nuclear countries which will operate at most a few large nuclear power plants or potentially a number of new small modular reactors. The invited presenters and panellists were government and industry. Arius, which has been working as an Advisor to USDOE on multinational disposal issues, was a contributor, as the programme below illustrates.

• International Perspectives on a Multinational Repository, Sean Tyson, RNFSWG Co-Chair, Office of Nuclear Energy. US Department of Energy
• The Multinational Repository Concepts and the IAEA, Christophe Xerri, Director, Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Waste Technology and Research Reactor Department of Nuclear Energy, International Atomic Energy Agency
• Perspectives on the Future of the Multinational Repository Concept, Alan Brownstein, Consultant, Former Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Nuclear Energy, US Department of Energy
• ncentives for Countries Using or Providing a Multinational Disposal Service, Charles McCombie, President Arius Association
• Dual Track Strategy for Small Countries: Slovenia: Example of a country with a small nuclear program and an early stage program for deep geological disposal, Leon Kegel, Head of Planning and Development Section at ARAO, Radwaste Management Organisation ARAO, Slovenia
• Discussion and Q & A

The entire 97 minute webinar can be viewed at : IFNEC Reliable Nuclear Fuel Services Working Group Webinar - The Multinational Repository Concept - YouTube

The experts also answered in writing numerous questions posed by participants and the results are documented at IFNEC - Questions and Answers - IFNEC Webinar - The Multinational Repository Concept - July 8 2020

Arius Participation in IFNEC meetings in Washington DC November 2019

On 12th November 2019, the IFNEC RNFSWG held in Washington DC, USA, a follow-on meeting from the December 2018 Paris meeting on costing and financing of a multinational repository (MNR). Arius and ERDO-WG Members contributed to the Paris meeting. They have also been directly involved in on-going efforts of the INPRO Project at the IAEA to produce a comprehensive report on collaboration at the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle. In particular, the IAEA draft material on incentives has been largely produced by ERDO-WG members and/or secretariat. The funding of secretariat members for these contributions has, however, been provided by the USDOE through a support contract awarded to Arius. Accordingly, Arius was contracted by the USDOE also to participate in the RNFSWG meeting. Charles McCombie presented the attached overview of incentives and also was a member in the discussion panel.

The IFNEC RNFSWG, Steering Group and Executive Committee meetings preceded the much higher level “Ministerial Conference on Small Modular Reactor and Advanced Nuclear Systems” held in the White House. Charles McCombie also was invited to attend this meeting. The direct support provided by Arius to US DoE on the topic of multinational repositories allows us to engage with a wider circle of international waste management decision makers and experts than would be feasible using only the resources available to the ERDO-WG. The IFNEC meetings in Washington DC illustrated clearly that the global interest in multinational solutions to disposal continues to increase.

Arius contracted by CSIRO of Australia for study on Deep Borehole Disposal of Research Reactor Wastes June 2019

Countries with developed nuclear power programmes will eventually require access to mined geological disposal facilities (GDF) to accommodate the large volumes of higher activity and longer lived wastes that they produce. For such countries, waste from their research reactors will simply be an add-on to the much larger volumes of nuclear power plant (NPP) wastes destined for a GDF. On the other hand, the operation of Research Reactor (RR) results in relatively small volumes of wastes with activity levels and longevity that require geological disposal so that it may be difficult to justify the costs and resources required for a GDF if a more cost-effective solution can be found. A potential alternative that is currently being examined in several countries is deep borehole disposal (DBD). This option obviously restricts the dimensions of waste packages, but current drilling technologies make greater depths up to a few kilometres feasible.

The CSIRO in Australia is interested in developing this technology and, as input to its work, CSIRO commissioned a study by Arius on the “Potential International Market in Southeast Asia for Deep Borehole Disposal of Research Reactor Wastes”. A report was produced by Neil Chapman and Charles McCombie of Arius and submitted in June 2019.

In the report, suggestions are made on how to engage with potentially interested countries, focussing first on the SE Asian countries studied, then expanded to comment on potential partner countries elsewhere. Suggestions are made on possible scenarios for structuring the management and implementation of external involvement in a demonstration project. The final Section of the report develops conclusions on the market and on DBD deployment scenarios in which potential user countries might be interested.

Arius contributes to the IFNEC Workshop on MNR financing in Paris December 2018

Arius, under a contract from the USDOE has been advising the Reliable Nuclear Fuel Services Working Group (RNFSWG) of the IFNEC Forum on matters related to multinational repositories. A particular interest of the RNFSWG is the financing options for an MNR. On 11th December 2018, a workshop on this topic was held in Paris at the premises of the NEA/OECD. The introductory session on the costs and risks associated with MNRs included talks by Neil Chapman and Charles McCombie of Arius/ERDO, as illustrated in the programme below.

WORKSHOP AGENDA

PART ONE – Defining an MNR Project

• The Phases and Spending Profiles for a Geologic Repository Project – Alan Brownstein
• The Costs of Geologic Disposal – Neil Chapman
• Project Risks in Financing a Multinational Repository – Charles McCombie

PART TWO - Approaches to Financing a Multinational Repository

• Introduction and Assumptions
• The Four Approaches in a Nutshell
• Approach 1 - It Is Clearly Challenging to Finance One MNR… But May Be “Easier” To Finance Several, George Borovas, Shearman and Sterling LLP
• Approach 2 – Government Sells Shares in the Repository Project with Return on Investment Coming from Fees Collected During Operaton, Elina Teplinsky, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
• Approach 3 - Financing with a Staged Interim Storage/Repository Approach, Robert Sloan, Tulane Center for Energy Law, Elise Zoli, Jones Day
• Approach 4 - Two Approaches: Government Develops Project with and without Customer Investment Timothy A. Frazier, Nuclear Economics Consulting Group; Edward Kee, Nuclear Economics Consulting Group; Paul Murphy, Murphy Energy & Infrastructure Consulting, LLC; Xavier Rollat, Alet Business Services Limited

All of the Workshop presentations can be found on the IFNEC website at https://www.ifnec.org/ifnec/jcms/g_11435/rnfswg-mnr-financing-workshop.

Arius co-hosts Mansfield Foundation meeting in Switzerland

The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation was created in the USA in 1983 to advance the founders’ life-long efforts to promote understanding and cooperation among nations and peoples of Asia and the United States. The Foundation sponsors exchanges, dialogues and publications that create networks and explore the underlying issues influencing public policies. In 2018-2019, the Foundation is convening a Korea-USA-Japan Dialogue on Aligning Security Concerns and Spent Fuel Strategies. The USA, Japan and Korea are some of the world’s most advanced countries in terms of nuclear energy experience, technology and capacity, but all three face significant challenges and questions regarding their plans for the “back end” of the nuclear fuel cycle. The present initiative aims to recommend ways in which the three countries, whether in cooperation or individually, can orient future strategies for the back end of the fuel cycle in order to better support shared security goals such as solutions to the North Korea challenge.

The work will be done by convening experts on the fuel cycle, nuclear non-proliferation, N.E. Asian security and regional geopolitics. In the first year of activity, the programme will include two short (2.5-day) workshops. The first of these took place in Switzerland from 22nd to 24th July and was co-organised by Arius. Sixteen persons participated, including government officials, academics, industry representatives and a Japanese media representative. A workshop report will be published in the spring of 2019. Arius was represented in the discussion sessions by Charles McCombie who, together with Professor Robert Rosner of the University of Chicago, introduced the session on “Spent Fuel Multilateral Cooperation Initiatives Past and Present: Implications for the USA, Japan and Korea”.

The meeting also included technical visits to the ZWILAG facility in Würenlingen and to the NAGRA underground research laboratory at the Grimsel Pass. On both visits, the participants were impressed by the high technical quality of the work being done and the enthusiasm and competence shown by the management and technical staffs during the discussions and the tours.

Arius hosts ERDO-WG meeting in Switzerland

Arius has provided the secretariat for the ERDO Working Group (www.erdo-wg.eu) since its formation in 2009. The latest meeting of the Working Group took place in Switzerland from 9th to 11th July 2018. The meeting included technical visits to the ZWILAG conditioning and storage facility in Würenlingen and to the underground rock laboratory at the Grimsel site, as well as a full day of discussions in Baden. A note on the meeting is included on the ERDO website mentioned. The pictures below show the group inside the ZWILAG facility and at the site of the major radionuclide migration experiment in the rock laboratory.

Continued international interest in multinational repositories and in the contributions of Arius/ERDO

Over recent years, interest in the feasibility of enhanced multinational cooperation at the back-end of the fuel cycle has continued to grow. Since the beginning of this year, Arius/ERDO has been an invited participant in dedicated meetings held in London and in Washington DC with a focus on international repositories. Brief reports on these two meetings are available.

Arius Participation in Work of the World Nuclear Association in London

Short report on Stimson meeting

The Arius/ERDO annual report for 2017 has already been distributed to Members. It illustrates the wide scope of Arius’s direct work and also its involvement in multiple studies and initiatives that are underway.

Annual Report for Arius & Erdo

In February 2018, the following article that was published by ERDO Secretariat members in Nuclear Engineering International. It gives an update on the status of multinational studies, initiatives and projects world-wide.

Nuclear Engineering International 2018

Arius : The first 15 years

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The Arius Association has now passed its 15th birthday and we have been looking back at what has been achieved over the years in order to consider in what shape and form the Association can best continue to fulfil our mission of promoting concepts for socially acceptable, international and regional solutions for environmentally safe, secure and economic storage and disposal of long-lived radioactive wastes.

Establishment of an organisation in which representatives from 10 countries have been involved over the past decade

Arius was established in 2002 with Organisational Members from national waste management programmes and from industry, who provided most of the required resources, and Individual Members who signed up to show their solidarity with the concept of shared facilities that contribute to safe and secure management of the back-end of the fuel cycle. Arius is organised as a not-for-profit Association run by Officers who work on a part-time basis. Annual activity and financial reports have been produced and distributed to members at the end of each year. Over the years, funding has been received from a variety of sources, as is described below.

Leadership of the ground-breaking SAPIERR projects

Earlier major tasks of Arius involved co-leadership of the two SAPIERR projects funded by the EC. The second of these projects involved 14 European States (i.e. half of the EU) and led to production of a series of seminal reports on various aspects of a multinational disposal concept. The titles were:

• WP1 – Legal and Business Options
• WP2 – Responsibilities and Financial Liabilities
• WP3 – Economic Aspects (including Hosting Benefits)
• WP4 – Security Aspects
• WP5 – Public and Political Attitudes

Establishment of the self-funded ERDO-WG

At the completion of SAPIERR II, it was decided that a more formal European organisation could be established. Accordingly, the European Repository Development Organisation (ERDO) initiative was started and a working group was set up in 2009 to manage the activities. The ERDO Working Group members are nominated by national governments, which have each agreed to pay an annual fee to finance the work being carried out. The work of the secretariat for ERDO is carried out by Arius, together with the Netherlands waste management organisation, COVRA. The number of participant countries has fluctuated over the years; currently there are seven. Members have hosted ERDO Working Group meetings in a number of countries.

Contributions to the EC debate on multinational/regional repositories

As a European focused organisation, ERDO has had intensive exchanges with the EC. This has included co-organisation of meetings in Luxembourg, attendance at EC sponsored workshops and direct discussions with Commissioners and staff at the EC, as well as with the relevant committee of the European Parliament. A particular focus of ERDO/Arius efforts was the evolution of the Waste Directive of 2011, in which it is formally recognised that it is feasible and could be valuable for EU Member States to collaborate in order to establish regional/multinational waste storage and disposal facilities.

More recently, the emphasis has been on trying to convince the EC that more resources should be devoted to promoting regional cooperation on strategic issues, as opposed to the current situation in which most EC funding is devoted to only R&D activities – and these mostly on topics related to geological disposal in advanced member states.

Winning support from US Foundations for promoting the Arius work outside of Europe

Progress towards realisation of a specific multinational, operational entity in Europe sometimes appears to move at the slow pace, typical also of national programmes. Nevertheless, the inherent value of the ERDO-WG/Arius work, and the potential for application of the same principles in other parts of the world have both been recognised. This led to Arius being directly supported by the US charitable Foundations, Hewlett and Sloan, over a period of several years, up to the end of 2015. During the Foundation projects, Arius has organised, or participated in, a number of meetings and workshops in other global regions. Workshops were held in cooperation with the IAEA and the UAE in Abu Dhabi and in cooperation with the IAEA and the AAEA in Tunisia. There are obvious potential advantages in multinational approaches in the Middle East and North Africa regions. In the former region, Arius has contributed to strategic waste management planning activities in the UAE and has had direct discussions with GCC groups. However, the current political unrest and financial difficulties in parts of the MENA region effectively block efforts to implement safer and more secure waste management programmes.

Obtaining international recognition of the leading role of Arius in the area of multinational cooperation on disposal

Arius is the only existing body specifically devoted to promoting the concept of multinational storage and disposal. Because of its active participation in any discussions on this topic, Arius has come to be recognised as a prime source of information and a useful source of input for any other global activities in this area.

For example, Arius was chosen in 2005 to be the back-end organisation that advised the High Level Group established by the Director General of the IAEA to prepare the important report on multilateral approaches to the fuel cycle. In addition, other initiatives related to multinational cooperation have requested participation of Arius. Examples here are:

• The Global Nuclear Futures (GNF) initiative of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS)
• The study, “New Approaches to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle” co-hosted by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI)
• The Reliable Nuclear Fuels Services Working Group (RNFSWG) of the IFNEC project study on “Exploring the Consideration of an International Repository”.

Specific studies or advice on multinational cooperation possibilities for individual countries

In addition to its multiple participation activities in international fora, at the request of specific individual countries, Arius has analysed the potential impact on their national radioactive waste management programme of participation in multinational projects. Early studies were carried out for Switzerland, Italy and Slovenia; more recently input has been provided to South Korean government officials. The most recent, highly topical activities have been related to the decision of the government of South Australia to study the potential benefits of South Australia getting involved in all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle and, in particular, in providing a multinational storage and disposal service. Arius provided input to the Royal Commission established to assess the issues.

Major contributor to IAEA activities

Over the years, the IAEA has been a strong supporter of multinational cooperation in radioactive waste management. Specifically, a series of reports has been produced since the turn of the century on the topic of multinational or regional repositories. Arius has been involved strongly in the drafting of the following influential IAEA documents:

• Developing multinational radioactive waste repositories: Infrastructural framework and scenarios of cooperation. IAEA-TECDOC-1413, 2004.
• Viability of Sharing Facilities for the Disposal of Spent Fuel and Nuclear Waste. IAEA-TECDOC-1658, 2011.
• Options for Management of SNF and Radioactive Waste for Countries Developing Nuclear Programme, NW-T-1.24, 2013
• Framework and Challenges for Initiating Multinational Cooperation for the Development of Radioactive Waste Repositories, IAEA Nuclear Energy Series report, 2016

In addition, Arius has presented papers at all major IAEA waste conferences over many years and has acted directly as an adviser to the INPRO section at the Agency, which is currently initiating a project on the topic of multinational disposal.

Media activities

Arius has at all times tried to ensure that the topic of multinational cooperation on storage and disposal has high visibility in the technical and public media.

Around 20 articles have been written for technical journals (see ‘Key Documents’ page) and over 50 presentations given at conferences or workshops around the world. Arius has also been repeatedly approached by the technical trade press for input when articles on waste disposal are being prepared. It is also consulted by journalists from national and global newspapers, and by television programme editors.

Two years ago, a cinema length documentary film was produced, ‘Journey to the Safest Place on Earth,’ about global waste disposal efforts, with a heavy emphasis on Arius work (see: http://www.mirafilm.ch/filme/DIE?lang=en).

Current Activities

Today, the topic of multinational cooperation at the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle has a very high visibility, with numerous initiatives underway examining various aspects of the challenges associated. Arius has been or is connected to most of these initiatives.

• ERDO-WG – Arius provides the secretariat for ERDO (see below). Currently, seven nations are involved in ERDO and many of the lessons being learned in the European contexts are applicable on a wider scale
  
  
• Advisor to IFNEC Working Group: the The International Framework For Nuclear Energy Cooperation (IFNEC) Working Group on Reliable Nuclear Fuel Services is currently organising a multi-year study aimed at assessing what small nuclear programmes might do to most effectively and efficiently progress their back-end planning using a “dual track” approach, in which a national facility and the multinational option are both kept open for some time into the future. Acting as an adviser to the IFNEC group gives Arius access to a wide network of contacts – including Asian countries.
  
  
• Consultant to IAEA INPRO Initiative: the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO) group at the IAEA is also organising a multi-year study into cooperation at the back-end of the fuel cycle. Arius has been engaged as a consultant to help plan this work and has also participated in the large working group meetings that have taken place in Vienna.
  
  
• Cooperation with AAAS project on Global Nuclear Futures: the American Association for Arts and Sciences is also running a related project. Arius has taken part in and co-organised meetings in this project, including specific workshops in the UAE and in Vietnam.
  
  
• Cooperation with NTI Project - New Approaches to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: a further US-based programme currently being run by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) has also looked at the impact of multinational solutions on nuclear power globally. Arius has been an invited participant in NTI workshops in Paris and Taipei.
  
  
• Input to South Australian Royal Commission: that project that is currently attracting attention globally is the evaluation of the potential for establishing multinational back-end facilities (for storage and disposal) by the government of South Australia, for which a Royal Commission was established, reporting in mid-2016. Arius provided input to the Commission in its early stages and Arius staff members (working through MCM and Jacobs) have since been involved in specific studies related to the economics, the safety, and the transport risks associated with a multinational facility.

US Foundations Project

From 2010 to December 2015, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Sloan Foundation have each provided grants for projects designed to build upon successful European experience in promoting regional, shared solutions for the safe management and disposal of used nuclear fuel by assessing whether the concept could also be applied in the countries in the Middle east and North Africa (MENA) and in South East Asia (SEA).

In the final phase of the initiative, from 2013 to 2015, the Arius work had three main elements:

1. Consolidating the gains made towards establishing regional groups with the capability to explore shared solutions for used fuel and radioactive waste management problems.
   
   
2. Providing input and support to regional groups that wish to assess the benefits and drawbacks of potential nuclear fuel leasing and take-back initiatives.
   
   
3. Providing high-level exposure and publicity to the global security value of the regionalization concepts, in order to build further support amongst international bodies and also major national disposal programs.

The final project report documents progress during the entire project.

Interactions with International Organisations

Arius has close contacts with a number of international organisations

IAEA

Arius has been involved in preparing the numerous IAEA documents on the topic of multinational storage and disposal. The list of relevant documents, available on the IAEA website is:

• INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Technical, Institutional and Economic Factors Important for Developing a Multinational Radioactive Waste Repository, IAEA-TECDOC-1021, Vienna (1998)
• INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Developing Multinational Radioactive Waste Repositories: Infrastructural Framework and Scenarios of Cooperation, IAEA-TECDOC-1413, Vienna (2004)
• INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Multilateral Approaches to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Vienna (2005)
• INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Technical, Economic and Institutional Aspects of Regional Spent Fuel Storage Facilities, TECDOC-1482, and Vienna (2005)
• INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY Viability of Sharing Facilities for the Disposition of Spent Fuel and Nuclear Waste - An Assessment of Recent Proposals, TECDOC 1658 (2011)
• INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Major Findings of the INPRO Dialogue Forum “Drivers and Impediments for Regional Cooperation on the Way to Sustainable Nuclear Energy Systems” (2012): available at http://www.iaea.org/INPRO/CPs/SYNERGIES/
• INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Options for Management of Spent Nuclear Fuel and Radioactive Waste for Countries Developing New Nuclear Power Programmes, IAEA Nuclear Energy Series No. NW-T-1.24, IAEA, Vienna (2013).
• INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY Framework and Challenges for Initiating Multinational Cooperation for the Development of a Radioactive Waste Repository. IAEA Nuclear Energy Series No. NW-T-1.5 (2016)

European Union IGD-TP

The Arius work as secretariat for the ERDO-Working Group ensures regular contacts with EU groupings. Arius is a member of the IGD-TP for which the EC provides a secretariat.

AAEA and GCC

The Arius work in Arab regions has led to cooperation with the Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA) and contacts with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

US Organisations

Arius has also been involved directly in studies carried out by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on the issues affecting the future of nuclear power - with a main focus of our contribution being to remind the nuclear community of the importance of considering the back-end of the fuel cycle right from the start of any nuclear planning.

European Repository Development Organisation - ERDO

The ERDO (European Repository Development Organisation) Working Group that emerged from the SAPIERR projects financed by the European Commission has been operational since 2009. The work of the ERDO-WG is recorded on a dedicated website http://www.erdo-wg.eu. A brief summary of the development and status of the ERDO-WG is given below.

ERDO – the origins

The EC SAPIERR projects resulted in a proposal for a staged, adaptive implementation strategy for a European Repository Development Organisation (ERDO). The first step in the strategy was the establishment of a Working Group (ERDO-WG) of interested countries to carry out pre-cursor work to enable a consensus model to be agreed for a ERDO, using the SAPIERR findings as a starting point. This model has been presented to potentially interested countries, so that they can decide whether and when to set up the ERDO and whether they wish to be part of it. The ERDO-WG started work at the beginning of 2009. Arius provides the WG secretariat and the administration is provided by COVRA, the Netherlands radioactive waste management agency.

The principal objective of the group’s work is to provide a forum for potential participating countries in Europe to discuss and agree the basis upon which an ERDO could be formed. At that stage, the participant countries will decide whether to go ahead and establish the ERDO and, if so, with what national membership. The ERDO would be established when a sufficient number of partner nations agree to the final proposals; it will operate as a sister organization to waste agencies that have opted for a purely national repository program (e.g. France, Sweden, Finland, Germany).

By combining their resources in this way, the ERDO partners demonstrate to other regions of the world the feasibility of enhancing safety and security while increasing the economic attractiveness of nuclear power, even for small countries.

ERDO-WG Meetings:

• Brussels, January 2009 (EC support; related to SAPIERR)
• Prague, September 2009 (hosted by RAWRA)
• Vlissingen, January 2010 (hosted by COVRA)
• Bratislava, May 2010 (hosted by Decom)
• Vienna, October 2010 (hosted by Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management)
• Vlissingen, March 2011 (hosted by COVRA)
• Rome, September 2011 (hosted by ENEA)
• Vienna, May 2012 (hosted by Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management)
• Warsaw, November 2012 (hosted by Ministry of Economics)
• Luxembourg, December 2013 (with ENEF and the EC)
• Ljubljana, July 2015 (hosted by ARAO)

Discussion documents worked on to date have been devoted to the following topics:

• Siting strategies for repositories
• Size and form of Waste Management Organisations (WMO)
• Outreach activities
• ERDO Operating Strategy
• ERDO Model Structure and Plan
• A proposal that national governments move on to found an official ERDO based on the preparations of the Working Group

An ERDO model for the Arabian Gulf and SE Asian regions ?

Arius has received grants from two charitable foundations in the USA to enable the Association to extend the concept of regional, multinational cooperation to other parts of the world. Beginning with a European initiative was the simplest approach, since an overarching organizational structure (the EU) already exists. Arius has explored the feasibility of adapting and applying the ERDO model to other global regions and concluded that, of various possible areas worldwide, the regions that may show the most immediate promise and potential interest are the Arabian Gulf region and South-East Asia.

The assessment was based principally on the advanced state of development of new nuclear infrastructure, the presence of active national nuclear power development programs and the geographical potential for sharing waste management solutions. The overall aim of this scoping project will be to assess the interest within these regions of working towards Regional Repository Development Organizations (RDOs) similar to the European ERDO.

Funding to explore these regional waste management possibilities has kindly been granted by:

• The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Menlo Park, USA
• The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, New York, USA

A scoping study was completed in early 2011 and funding for a further two year project was been awarded in mid-2011 by both Foundations. The final project report was submitted in February 2016, as referred to above.

In April 2012, a "Workshop on Regional Collaboration on Radioactive Waste Management in MENA Countries" was hosted in Abu Dhabi by the UAE authorities and organised by the IAEA together with Arius, with significant input from the AAEA. A follow up workshop in November 2012 was hosted in Tunisia by the AAEA and co-organised with the assistance of Arius and the IAEA. Participants were entirely from those Arab countries that have no immediate nuclear power plans. These two events made it clear that the priorities in those Arab regions with active nuclear power developments differ significantly from those in less wealthy Arab states that are concerned mainly with ensuring safe storage and disposal of spent radiation sources, NORM and other materials. In both cases, however, there is a strong interest in partnering initiatives that pool resources and benefit from economies of scale. Further workshops and joint waste management projects are proposed for the non-nuclear power Arab States for 2013. In the six countries comprising the GCC region, which includes two nations with expanding nuclear power programmes (the UAE and Saudi Arabia), consideration is also being given to launching a joint project on the feasibility of shared storage and/or disposal facilities.

Other possible regional groupings that Arius may consider exploring in the future could include Central and South America, and Africa.