Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very pleased to welcome you to the 2014 IAEA Scientific Forum.
It is a well-established tradition at the IAEA to hold a Scientific Forum every year during the General Conference, devoted to a specific technical area of the Agency's work.
In the last few years, we have focussed on nuclear techniques related to cancer, food, water, and the protection of the environment.
It has been 14 years since the Scientific Forum last considered the management of radioactive waste. I thought it important to return to this subject because the peaceful use of nuclear science and technology has grown steadily in that time, as has the amount of radioactive material that needs to be managed safely.
There is a widespread misperception about radioactive waste, which is that solutions for managing it safely and effectively simply do not exist. That is not correct. Well-established technologies do exist to address this issue.
As I told the General Conference yesterday, radioactive waste is an issue for all countries, not just those which have nuclear power programmes.
Radioactive sources are used to sterilize food and medical instruments, to diagnose and treat cancer patients, to develop crops that better resist disease, as well as in a wide range of industrial applications.
Research reactors have uses that include production of radioisotopes for medical procedures. Many countries offer fuel cycle services, ranging from uranium mining to nuclear fuel fabrication and spent fuel reprocessing.
As with other industrial and technological processes, all of these activities produce waste. Waste may be radioactive for just a few hours, or a few days, or for hundreds of thousands of years.
To ensure that waste poses no risk to people or the environment, now and in the future, all countries using nuclear technologies have the responsibility to manage it safely.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As I said, well-established technologies do exist.
This is a source holder, which contained a sealed radioactive source previously used in a moisture gauge - a device widely used in construction.
And this stainless steel capsule is used for conditioning disused sealed radioactive sources. These sources would have been used in cancer treatment or a variety of industrial applications, such as radiography. The capsules are placed in appropriate containers to safely transport, store and eventually dispose of the radioactive material.
These are just some examples of the many tried and proven technologies that exist for developing safe radioactive waste management solutions.
Of course, much more complicated technology is required to deal with high-level waste or spent fuel. And it is true that geological disposal of high-level waste, and of spent nuclear fuel declared as waste, has not yet been licensed anywhere in the world.
However, serious work has been done on this and several countries are at, or near, the licensing stage. I have had the opportunity to visit sites in Finland and Sweden, where impressive work is being done on establishing permanent geological disposal facilities. Other countries have also made considerable progress in this area.
Radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel have been safely stored in dedicated facilities for decades.
Disposal programmes have been successfully implemented for very low-level, low-level, and intermediate-level waste, which make up most of the world's radioactive waste. Technologies for the disposal of spent fuel and high-level waste have already been developed and are awaiting licensing.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is the responsibility of each country using nuclear technology to ensure the safe and secure management and disposal of waste. But countries can benefit greatly from each other's experiences.
The IAEA's role is to support Member States in adopting technically sound, safe and secure solutions for managing waste. We develop safety standards and security guidance, publish technical reports, and organize training courses, workshops and technical meetings. We organise expert peer reviews to help countries assess and improve their waste management.
I am grateful to the many experts, both on the podium and in the audience, who have come to share their knowledge with us in this Scientific Forum.
I hope participants will gain a better understanding of the challenges involved. We will use the opportunity to demonstrate how the IAEA can support Member States in developing and implementing safe and sustainable waste management solutions.
I believe this will also be an excellent opportunity to give a wider public audience a greater awareness of the challenges of managing radioactive waste - and to show that solutions do exist.
I hope you will have a very successful meeting and I look forward to learning about the outcome of your discussions.
Thank you.