The purpose of this brochure is to provide an easily accessible synopsis of the report The Regulatory Control of Radioactive Waste Management – Overview of 15 NEA Member Countries in order to provide a quick introduction to regulatory systems and an overview of current systems in NEA member countries. To that effect Chapter 2 identifies the elements generally associated with the process of regulation, Chapter 3 provides a comparative analysis of the regulatory arrangements in radioactive waste management across 15 NEA member countries, and Chapter 4 draws general observations.

This brochure covers the management of radioactive waste from all types of nuclear installations, such as power reactors, research reactors, nuclear fuel cycle facilities, etc, as well as from medical, research and industrial sources and from defence-related sources where appropriate. It presents the national situations during the first half of the year 2005 but does not address the regulatory control of radioactive waste from natural sources.