Description

The administrative measures used to oversee and control events at or around the repository site during site investigation, construction, operation and closure, and after closure. The administrative measures may be active (e.g. involving specific checks that relevant procedures have been undertaken) or passive (e.g. setting out the general safety principles under which a repository is operated. The type of administrative control may vary depending on the stage in the repository lifetime.

Category

Categorisation as a Feature, Event and/or Process.

  • Features are physical components of the disposal system and environment being assessed. Examples include waste packaging, backfill, surface soils. Features typically interact with one another via processes and in some cases events.
  • Events are dynamic interactions among features that occur over time periods that are short compared to the safety assessment timeframe such as a gas explosion or meteorite impact.
  • "Processes" are issues or dynamic interactions among features that generally occur over a significant proportion of the safety assessment timeframe and may occur over the whole of this timeframe. Events and processes may be coupled to one another (i.e. may influence one another).

The classification of a FEP as an event or process depends upon the assessment context, because the classification is undertaken with reference to an assessment timeframe. In this generic IFEP List, many IFEPs are classified as both Events and Processes; users will need to decide which of these classifications is relevant to their context and its timeframes.

  • Process

Relevance to Performance and Safety

The “Relevance to Performance and Safety” field contains an explanation of how the IFEP might influence the performance and safety of the disposal system under consideration through its impact on the evolution of the repository system and on the release, migration and/or uptake of repository-derived contaminants.

The administrative measures (this FEP, 1.1.9) will influence strongly the processes of repository construction (FEP 1.1.5), operation (FEP 1.1.6) and closure (FEP 1.1.7). As detailed in the corresponding FEP descriptions, activities during construction, operation and closure may impact upon post-closure performance and safety. Administrative measures will also apply to any monitoring (FEP 1.1.10) that is undertaken before and after repository closure and any mitigation measures that might need to be implemented should monitoring identify unexpected repository behaviour. The effectiveness of any monitoring and/or mitigation will depend in part on the administrative measures that are enacted.

2000 List

A reference to the related FEP(s) within the 2000 NEA IFEP List.

1.1.10

Related References

  • NEA (), RWMC Regulators' Forum (RWMC-RF): Control, Oversight and Related Terms in the International Guidance on Geological Disposal of Radioactive Waste – Review of Definitions and Use, NEA/RWM/RF(2014)2, Nuclear Energy Agency/Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, http://www.oecd-nea.org/rwm/docs/2014/rwm-rf2014-2.pdf