Radioactive waste Repository in Italy and annexed Technology Park

Radioactive waste is produced, in advanced industrial countries, by many activities, including medical, industrial and research fields. In Italy such waste, increasing year after year, has to be added to those deriving from nuclear activities. Italy operated Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) until 1987, when they were shutdown after a referendum. After a ten year stand-by, in 1999 the Italian Government created SOGIN, a public company charged for NPPs decommissioning and for the safe and responsible management of the Italian radioactive waste, acting as a Waste Management Organisation (WMO). Such management, following international guidelines and best-practice, is framed and implemented in a holistic approach, Radioactive Waste Management (RWM), that aims to guarantee safety “from cradle to grave”, from the moment when a radioactive waste is produced to the moment when it can be disposed of accordingly to safety standards, that include a classification of radioactive waste, assigning specifical requirements for disposal of each category of waste. The overall amount of radioactive waste is described and analysed, in each country, in a National Inventory. The Italian National Inventory is composed of many and different waste streams. This situation was originated from a pioneering nuclear programme started in the early ’60s, from a spread and diversified industrial installations, and from publicly enhanced research and medical activities. Following international best practices, Italy has adopted and is implementing a National Programme for RWM, that provides the disposal of some 78 000 m3 of radioactive waste in a near-surface repository, the National Repository (NR). A smaller amount of radioactive waste, some 17 000 m3, will be hosted in the NR for a long-term interim storage (50 to 100 years), waiting for its final disposal in a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF), that is required to be built deeply underground. The siting procedure for the NR is designed following a “mixed-mode approach”, that combines technical and engineering criteria with others referred to societal and economic aspects, in order to draw a National Map of Potentially Suitable Areas. SOGIN drafted this Map in 2014, and held a Public Consultation and a National Workshop (2021) to discuss, with a wide range of stakeholders, modifications to be applied in a National Map of Suitable Areas, that is currently waiting for green light from the government for its publication. After the publication of the National Map of Suitable Areas, Regions and local communities concerned will be asked to issue an expression of interest, aimed to start consultation with SOGIN (Project’s Implementer) to define an agreement that includes the research of a suitable site in the territory to host the NR. Together with the NR, a Technology Park will be built to carry out activities related to the NR operations, and other activities to be developed in various branches, from radiological and environmental protection to research laboratories. The choice of activities to be developed will be agreed with hosting communities.