Storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste are critical components of national and international waste management strategies. One of the most pressing issues is the need for extended storage, pending the availability of operational disposal solutions. This pressure will intensify as more countries pursue new nuclear builds, increasing future waste inventories.
In response to this challenge and in anticipation of member country needs, the NEA established the Ad hoc Group on Extended Storage and Transportation (AhGEST) in 2021. This initiative culminated in a broader, sustainability-focused discussion through a technical workshop entitled Extended Storage and Transportation of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste from Current and Future Reactor Technologies, held in December 2023.
The workshop expanded the scope of discussion to include novel reactor technologies, exploring whether, and to what extent, lessons learnt from existing systems could be applied to new systems, and identifying unique features requiring specific attention.
The summary report of this event is available on the NEA website.
Main discussions of the workshop highlighted that while a variety of storage and transportation systems are in use, most experience is based on light water reactor fuel, with limited data from older fuel types used in the 1960s and 1970s.
Longer timeframes require consideration of technical compatibility with future processes, such as repackaging, reprocessing and final disposal – each of which involves transportation. Extended storage also necessitates stable policies for managing ageing, storage capacity, licensing, assets, and information and knowledge over the long term.
Small modular reactors and other advanced reactor designs will generate a variety of spent fuels and radioactive waste types, increasing geographical distribution and transportation volumes. This will demand flexibility in waste storage systems, require gap analysis and additional research, and lead to (re)assessments of current cask designs and transportation regulations.
In light of these findings, the NEA established the Expert Group on Extended Storage and Transportation (EGSTRA) in December 2025 to take this work forward.
The EGSTRA will:
- Facilitate the exchange of information, operational experience, and good practices among members on storage and transport of spent nuclear fuel and HLW.
- Develop solutions and guidance for the key challenges related to:
- Extended storage and subsequent transportation, including fuel integrity, ageing management, regulatory approaches, and economic sustainability. These efforts will be driven by the compatibility with future processes such as repackaging, reprocessing and disposal, as well as the need for transportation at each stage.
- Integrated safety strategies for storage and transportation, addressing long-term performance, containment and monitoring methods, preparedness for subsequent management steps, and knowledge management.
Organisations from member countries are invited to nominate experts to join this group. For more information, send an email to: nea@oecd-nea.org.
