General Training on Methodologies for Geological Disposal in North America

IAEA recognizes that the status of waste management is very different among countries operating nuclear power plants. Countries with large nuclear programs are generally more advanced than others with smaller inventories or with less organized structures. It is in the interest of all the countries engaged in the production of nuclear energy to promote and facilitate nuclear waste management worldwide to increase safety.

IAEA has therefore established a training program under its Technical Cooperation Program, beginning in 2003. The objective of this program is to transfer knowledge and technology from Member States with advanced research and development programs in underground research facilities by training specialists from Member States with less developed repository implementation programs and/or having no direct access to underground research laboratories. The aim is to increase the level of competence in nuclear waste management among countries operating and having spent fuel and highly radioactive waste to be disposed of.

It is the intent of the Network program to a variety of training opportunities to Member States that include class room and underground instruction, scientific visits, fellowships and on-site group training.

This inaugural training session of Network was developed by the Network Members including:

Canada - The Underground Research Laboratory at Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba, operated by Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL),

U.S.A. - The Yucca Mountain Exploratory Studies Facility near Las Vegas, Nevada, operated by the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Lawerence Berkeley National Laboratory at Berkeley, California.
The class room portion of the training was held at Lawerence Berkeley National Laboratory during the week of August 11, 2003.

The class room training is intended to cover a broad range of issues important to geological disposal to include disposal concepts, regulatory aspects, project management, data analysis and modeling, total system performance, and facility design. Underground training at both the Yucca Mountain Exploratory Studies Facility and the AECL Underground Research Laboratory will be held the following week and emphasize the collection, analysis and modeling of natural system processes data important to the performance of geologic disposal facilities.