During the ENTRUST project, the researcher designed and developed several analytical tools supporting the integrated assessment of NWM strategies: (1) a comprehensive bibliometric analytical tool to study the scholarly and scientific literature about nuclear waste since 1940; (2) a multi-criteria evaluation tool for the comparison of long-term SNF storage options; and (3) a multi-criteria evaluation tool used to compare different disposal strategies by comparing the relative performance of sites at the level of their geological environment properties. The approach has been part of recent efforts toward the integration of the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle. The back-end integration accounts for the various processes of NWM—onsite storage, consolidated storage, transport and geological disposal. These processes must be fully coupled so that benefits and impacts can be assessed at the level of the whole fuel cycle and for the different social actors. The tools developed during this project support that aim by allowing the evaluation of NWM systems at any point in the system (storage, transport, disposal). The tools have been initially developed in the context of the U.S. NWM program during the outgoing phase and were then applied to the EU context, in particular, on clay-based nuclear waste repository programs as is the case of France, Belgium and Switzerland.
To support the scientific objectives of the project, the researcher went through an extensive training program on the technical and scientific basis of NWM while at Stanford University. The training program consisted in auditing classes, reviewing the scientific literature, participating to workshops/conferences, and interviewing experts in the many fields relevant to the technical and social aspects of NWM.
The research activities of this project led to several publications, including five research papers, one book chapter, four conference papers, two conference posters and one commentary. The project also had significant policy impact with the ER collaborating with nuclear waste organizations of EU countries and U.S. national laboratories for transferring the research innovations of this project to their research and development programs.
