International cooperation

We work with experts at the international level

The preparation of a deep geological repository requires the input of international experience and knowledge. We are, therefore, actively involved in international research projects in cooperation with EURATOM and other organisations. SÚRAO representatives are members of the permanent committee of the Atomic Energy Agency in Paris (NEA-OECD) and also actively work together with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.

Euratom

The European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) addresses principally nuclear research and safety issues. The Community was founded on 25 March 1957 in Rome on the basis of the Treaty of Rome (which entered into force on 1 January 1958). Although Euratom is an independent organisation, it is fully integrated into the structures of the European Union.

Cooperation between the various EURATOM member states includes working together on issues concerning the disposal of radioactive waste. We propose and conduct research aimed at building knowledge on the behaviour of radionuclides and their reaction to various materials. The mutual exchange of knowledge and experience, as well as the conducting of practical research, development and experimentation, serve to deepen the level of trust at the European level with respect both to professionals and the general public.

Other cooperation

Bilateral cooperation focuses on establishing and maintaining contacts concerned with the research and implementation of radioactive waste disposal with a number of European and non-European countries. Cooperation is in place with:

  • Germany (Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH- BGE; Deutsche Gesellschaft zum Bau und Betrieb von Endlagern für Abfallstoffe mbH – DBE; Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit – GRS),
  • France (ANDRA – the French nuclear waste management agency),
  • Switzerland (NAGRA – the Swiss national agency for the disposal of radioactive waste),
  • Finland (POSIVA OY),
  • Sweden (SKB – Swedish nuclear fuel and waste management company),
  • and Italy (SOGIN – Italian state-owned company for the decommissioning and management of radioactive waste).
  • with respect to non-European countries, cooperation agreements have been concluded with the Chinese Research Institute of Uranium Geology (BRIUG) and the Korean Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD).
  • In May and June 2018, SÚRAO finalised cooperation agreements with the Hungarian organisation PURAM (a state-owned company for the management of radioactive waste) and the Slovak JAVYS nuclear waste agency.

Furthermore, negotiations are underway aimed at establishing closer cooperation between SÚRAO and nuclear waste organisations in the so-called V4 + 4 countries (Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland (V4) and Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Croatia).