Kazakhstan Moves To Ban Imports Of Radioactive Waste

Kazakhstan plans to create a separate radioactive waste control system and ban imports of radioactive waste from other countries, Orda.kz reports.

The bill “On Radioactive Waste Management” has been adopted in the first reading by the Majilis.

According to deputy Edil Zhanbyrshin, the amount of radioactive waste in the country is growing every year.

At a number of facilities left over from the Soviet period, we have identified damage to protective coatings, erosion, infrastructure wear, and insufficient oversight. In addition, responsible organizations and balance holders have still not been identified for some facilities,the deputy said.

Zhanbyrshin also said current legislation does not solve the problem because radioactive waste regulations are scattered across different laws.

Today, radioactive waste regulations are spread across different laws and do not form a single system. Because of this, there are gaps in accounting, storage, transportation, disposal, and long-term control. All these problems have shown that the country needs a full-fledged system of state regulation in this area,he said.

However, deputy Bakytzhan Bazarbek said the bill contains inconsistencies with the Environmental Code.

The bill introduces the concept of a cadastre of radioactive waste storage and disposal sites, but there is no such concept in the Environmental Code. The document also does not refer to the Environmental Code itself, although we must always rely on its requirements. In addition, some norms on the classification of radioactive waste do not correspond to current legislation, which means some substances may fall outside the scope of regulation. I think we will fix this by the second reading,Bazarbek said.

He said the amendments should be considered before the second reading.

The bill also:

• Introduces licensing and state supervision in the sector;
• Regulates the construction and closure of disposal sites;
• Strengthens long-term monitoring of radioactive facilities;
• Creates a state register of radioactive waste.

Original author: Alina Elgeldina

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