Joint Convention
The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has the government assignment of compiling a triennial national report on Sweden’s compliance with the obligations of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management.
The areas covered by the Joint Convention have long been incorporated in the Swedish system for spent fuel and radioactive waste management.
Sweden has a solid legal and regulatory infrastructure with clear mandates as well as a long-term strategy for financial management and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, including a national programme for this system.
Sweden’s seventh national report
The national report covers the safety philosophy, legislation and efforts relating to safety that are implemented by the Government of Sweden and by government agencies and licensees in the country.
In previous review meetings under the Joint Convention, Sweden has been recognised for its progress in the development of disposal solutions and concomitant development of the necessary safety case and regulatory processes.
The seventh, and latest, report reflects how Sweden is striving to strengthen its national programme through the proactive work on the part of the Government and the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority to develop supervisory methods and the legal and regulatory framework applicable to the industry’s work, provisions for openness and stakeholder dialogue, as well as measures to secure long-term competence supply.
The concluding review conference will be held in Vienna over a period of two weeks in June-July 2022 (postponed due to the pandemic), when Sweden and the other 87 contracting parties will present their respective national reports.
Mutual reviews of national reports
All countries that have signed the Convention produce a national report describing the country’s compliance with the obligations of the Joint Convention. The reports are submitted to the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, which acts as a secretariat to the Convention. The secretariat arranges so that all the countries have an opportunity to read the other contracting parties' reports.
Each state then reviews a selection of the other members' national reports and submits written questions that must also be answered in writing. The outcomes of the reviews are subsequently the topic of discussion at the Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties, held in Vienna over a two-week period every third year.