IAEA Explanatory letter

Atoms for Peace and Development

Vienna International Centre, PO Box 100, 1400 Vienna, Austria
Phone: (+43 1) 2600  Fax: (+43 1) 26007
Email: [email protected]  Internet: http://www.iaea.org
In reply please refer to: J5.05
Dial directly to extension: (+43 1) 2600-22676

The Secretariat of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) presents its compliments to the
IAEA’s Member States and has the honour to draw their attention to the following draft safety standard:
Borehole Disposal Facilities for Radioactive Waste
(DS512)
Member States and their experts are hereby provided with an opportunity to review and evaluate this
draft safety standard, which is available online at:
https://www.iaea.org/resources/safety-standards/draft-standards-for-ms-comment
A hard copy of the draft text will be sent out upon request.
Any proposed changes to this draft text resulting from the review by Member States will be taken into
account in the finalization of the safety standard.
Member States are kindly requested to provide comments on the draft text following the guidance given
in the attached Explanatory Note.
The Secretariat of the International Atomic Energy Agency avails itself of this opportunity to assure the
IAEA’s Member States of its highest consideration.

2021-09-30
Enclosures:

Explanatory Note
Form for Comments

M-12/Rev. 11 (Jun 20)

Statement by the Commission on Safety Standards

Explanatory Note
Borehole Disposal Facilities for Radioactive Waste
(DS512)
The draft text for review, entitled Borehole Disposal Facilities for Radioactive Waste, was prepared
as a draft Safety Guide to be issued in the IAEA Safety Standards Series.
The draft text has already been reviewed through consultants’ meetings, as well as by the Waste Safety
Standards Committee (WASSC), and the Nuclear Security (NSGC).
The objective of this draft text, as accepted by the Commission on Safety Standards (CSS), is to provide
recommendations and guidance on the development, operation, closure, institutional control and regulation
of borehole disposal facilities for disused sealed radioactive sources that have been declared radioactive
waste and small amounts of low level waste and intermediate level waste generated during the management
of the disused sealed radioactive sources, to fulfil the safety requirements. The Safety Guide can also be
used as a basis for reassessing and where appropriate upgrading the safety of existing borehole disposal
facilities.
Comments are requested in relation to:
•

Relevance and usefulness: Are the stated objectives appropriate, and are they met by the draft text?

•

Scope and completeness: Is the scope appropriate, and is it adequately covered by the draft text?

•

Quality and clarity: Does the guidance in the draft text represent the current consensus among
specialists in the field, and is this guidance expressed clearly and coherently?

•

Safety-security interfaces: Does the draft text appropriately address the interfaces between safety and
nuclear security?

Comments of an editorial nature will be considered; however, it should be noted that the draft text will be
comprehensively edited by the IAEA Secretariat.
Any comments should be made in English, should refer to the relevant paragraph number in the draft text
being reviewed, and should propose alternative text where appropriate. Please use the attached Form for
Comments to record all comments.
The responsible IAEA officer is Mr David George Bennett of the Department of Nuclear Safety and
Security, who may be contacted for further information in connection with this subject by telephone at:
+43 1 2600 22676 or via email at: [email protected].
Any comments should be sent through the established official channels to the responsible IAEA officer by
28 January 2022

Form for Comments
Borehole Disposal Facilities for Radioactive Waste
(DS512)

Reviewer:
Country/Organization:
Comment No.

Para/Line
No.

COMMENTS BY REVIEWER
Proposed new text

Page.... of....
Date:
Reason

RESOLUTION
Accepted

Accepted, but
modified as follows

Rejected

Reason for
modification/rejection

Statement by the Commission on Safety Standards
Publications in the IAEA Safety Standards Series are prepared and reviewed in accordance with a uniform
process. To this end, the Commission on Safety Standards (CSS) and five committees with harmonized terms
of reference — the Emergency Preparedness and Response Standards Committee (EPReSC), the Nuclear
Safety Standards Committee (NUSSC), the Radiation Safety Standards Committee (RASSC), the Transport
Safety Standards Committee (TRANSSC) and the Waste Safety Standards Committee (WASSC) — have been
established. The CSS has a special overview role with regard to the IAEA’s safety standards and provides
advice to the Director General on the IAEA’s overall programme with regard to regulatory aspects of safety.
The uniform preparation and review process involves organizing expert group meetings; arranging at different
stages of preparation for the internal review of draft texts; submitting the texts to the relevant Committee(s)
for review; submitting draft texts to the IAEA’s Member States for comment; and submitting the approved
final draft of the safety standard 1 for endorsement by the CSS before publication.
The CSS stresses the importance of Member States’ comments to the preparation and review process for safety
standards. Publications in the IAEA Safety Standards Series not only should be of the requisite quality but also
should represent the consensus view of the Member States and should address the issues of importance to the
Member States. While the CSS, the Committees and the Secretariat strive to provide safety standards that
satisfy these criteria, the review of draft standards by experts in the Member States is an essential stage in
obtaining the broadest possible technical consensus and the highest possible quality and relevance.
Member States are also encouraged to provide the IAEA with feedback on their use of the safety standards.
The status of safety standards extant and in preparation can be seen on the IAEA’s website, where there are
also links to electronic files for existing publications, including those in other official languages. 2 The
responsible IAEA officer is Mr Dominique Delattre, Head of the Safety and Security Publications Unit of the
Department of Nuclear Safety and Security. He may be contacted for further information in connection with
this subject by telephone at: + 43 1 2600 22696 or via email at: [email protected].

Safety Guides are published under the authority of the Director General. Safety Fundamentals and Safety Requirements
publications require the approval of the Board of Governors, after endorsement by the CSS.

1

2

See http://www-ns.iaea.org/committees/files/CSS/205/status.pdf.