Participants of the seventh joint session of the CDLM and the RWMC.
The NEA held its annual “Back-End Week” at the NEA headquarters and the OECD Conference Centre from 24 to 28 February 2025. The event gathered more than 110 participants from 24 countries, along with representatives from the European Commission, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).
Throughout the week, plenary meetings were held for the Regulators’ Forum (RF), the NEA Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC), the NEA Committee on Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations and Legacy Management (CDLM), as well as a joint CDLM-RWMC session. These sessions provided a platform to review recent developments, set future priorities, and foster collaboration within the Agency and with other international organisations. In addition, several focused sessions offered in-depth discussions on targeted topics.
The RF session opened with a keynote presentation on ensuring regulatory independence during the merger of the Autorité de sûreté nucléaire (ASN) and Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire (IRSN). This was followed by two topical sessions: one exploring the regulatory challenges in managing radioactive waste for advanced reactor technologies by incorporating perspectives from regulators, designers, and facility operators, and another examining clearance and release practices, which highlighted international frameworks, industry experiences, and national approaches.
The RWMC organised a topical session entitled Optimisation and innovation in radioactive waste management: Building a sustainable and holistic framework. This session showcased presentations and discussions on optimising individual component processes – such as waste generation, conditioning and recycling, storage, transportation and disposal – as well as the overall radioactive waste management system. With deep geological repositories on the horizon and new nuclear technologies emerging, the discussion highlighted opportunities to update practices, refine policies, and enhance communication, reflecting the dynamic challenges faced by today’s nuclear back-end professionals.
The CDLM held a topical session entitled Strategic drivers in decommissioning and legacy management structured around three focus areas: workload, workforce, and innovation. Through breakout sessions and a subsequent plenary, participants examined factors influencing future decommissioning and legacy management activities. Key topics included attracting and retaining talent, regulatory harmonisation, leveraging technologies such as AI, and improving communication. These insights will guide CDLM’s priorities over the next five years.
During the joint CDLM-RWMC session, participants reviewed the findings of the Focus Group on the Back End of Advanced Reactors (FG-BEAR), established in 2024 to pinpoint gaps and unmet needs across technical, economic, societal, and regulatory dimensions. The session featured presentations on key topic areas such as decommissioning by design, materials, processes, waste management pathways, regulations, and economic factors, leading to detailed discussions on future orientations for both committees and opportunities for collaboration among various NEA bodies.
As every year, the “Back-End Week" served as a vital forum for progress review, strategic planning and collaborative engagement in waste management and decommissioning. A central takeaway was the reaffirmed importance of integrating back-end considerations early in the design and operation of new systems.
