The review of the RD&D Programmes (Research, Development, Demonstration) prepared by the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co (SKB) is a recurrent task that the Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) must carry out as a regulatory authority with the support of reviewing bodies of which the most important is the Swedish Radiation Protection Authority (SSI). The review statement for the latest programme, RD&D Programme 2004, was submitted to the Government in June 2005.
In each new review, an evaluation is made of the progress of the Swedish nuclear waste programme which is SKB’s responsibility. The company is the most important driving force in all nuclear waste management activities in different forms and, in this context, the important issue is how the spent nuclear fuel will be handled and disposed of in the long term.
The nuclear waste issue contains technical, scientific, social science and democratic challenges which are to be handled by SKB. All of these aspects are dealt with in SKI’s statement to the Government even if, for natural reasons, the technical and scientific problems are the focus for a regulatory authority that works with safety issues and the supervision and regulation of nuclear facilities.
This report is also available in Swedish:
2008:48 SKI:s yttrande och utvärdering av SKB:s redovisning av Fud-program 2007