15 Mar 2021

Progress on the proposal of the National Repository for radioactive waste in Italy

Public consultation
Public consultation © ENEA

The Italian National Repository will be a surface environmental infrastructure that will allow the storage of specific categories of the radioactive wastes that are actually stored in different temporary deposits in the country.

These wastes are  produced by the operation and dismantling activities of nuclear plants and by the daily activities of nuclear medicine, industry and research.

The National Repository will host permanently the disposal of very low and low activity radioactive wastes and will store temporally the medium and high activity radioactive wastes, which will then have to be transferred to a suitable repository for their definitive storage. A Technological Park will be implemented near the National Repository, that will constitute an applied research and training center in the field of nuclear decommissioning, radioactive waste management and radiation protection, as well as environmental protection. The Technological Park will represent a real integration with the economic and research system, further contributing to the sustainable development of the territory in which it will arise. The National Deposit and Technology Park will be built within an area of approximately 150 hectares, of which 110 are dedicated to the Deposit and 40 to the Technology Park. The disposal sector for the very low and low activity radioactive wastes and that for medium and high level radioactive wastes will cover approximately 20 hectares. The remaining 90 hectares will be used for hosting the systems for the production of cells and modules, the plant for packaging modules and the infrastructures for the Quality Control, the Radiochemical Analysis and for the services supporting the activities. 

Project proposed
Project proposed © SOGIN website

On 5th of January 2021, after decades of consultations, the proposed National Charter of Potentially Suitable Areas (CNAPI) has been finally published. It represents a list of areas potentially suitable for hosting the construction of the National Repository, based on the socio-environmental technical characteristics and identified by the Italian Radioactive Waste Management Organisation-SOGIN. The preliminary project and the relative documentation are publicly available at the website www.depositonazionale.it. Within sixty days following its official publication (Article 27, paragraph 3 of Italian Legislative Decree No. 31/2010), the Regions, local authorities, as well as every stakeholders, can make comments and technical proposals in writing through the dedicated portal.

It is the first time that a public consultation regarding an infrastructure of national importance for the safe and secure storage of the radioactive wastes has been launched in Italy.

https://www.depositonazionale.it/consultazione-pubblica/partecipa-alla-…

Contact

Antonietta Rizzo
ENEA
antonietta.rizzo@enea.it

Chiara Telloli
ENEA
chiara.telloli@enea.it

Barbara Ferrucci
ENEA
barbara.ferrucci@enea.it