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Galson Sciences Ltd - International reviews

Credibility for any project will be enhanced by the use of consultants who possess a thorough understanding of international programmes, and who are recognised on the international stage. GSL staff have extensive international experience and a balanced international perspective. We have an in-depth knowledge of, and contacts in, major radioactive waste management and regulatory programmes worldwide.

Staff have performed work in most European Commission (EC) countries, Eastern Europe and Russia, the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and directly for the EC, the OECD/Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

For example, we have undertaken international reviews of public stakeholder engagement programmes for decision-making on radioactive waste management for clients in the UK and overseas, including the EC. Staff have led reviews of the Dutch radioactive waste management programme, the US programme for the disposal of low- and intermediate-level wastes (L/ILW) at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the US performance assessment (PA) programme for the disposal of high-level waste (HLW) and spent fuel at Yucca Mountain, the French HLW disposal programme at the Bure site, the Finnish radioactive waste site characterisation, siting and PA programmes, the Swedish spent fuel disposal programme, and the Swiss radioactive waste disposal PA programme.

GSL coordinated and had a lead technical role in EC projects studying (i) models to account for spatial and temporal variability of fluid flow in fractured rocks and the application of models to radioactive waste disposal (FZH), and (ii) the deep injection of radioactive wastes in Russia as natural system analogues for radioactive waste repositories (BORIS). We have also led work packages in EC projects on stakeholder involvement in decision-making (RISCOM), on migration of radionuclides through clay (TRANCOM), on near-field assessment of disposal facilities (NF-PRO), on PA and uncertainty management (PAMINA), and on risk governance in radioactive waste management (ARGONA).

Work for the OECD/NEA has involved coordination of international projects, including preparation and reporting of international workshops covering radioactive waste disposal issues, and management of international expert groups.

GSL staff have a good knowledge of a large number of experimental programmes and their common features and problems. GSL has reviewed and provided advice on WIPP experimental programmes studying the actinide source term, colloids, backfill performance, and the physical behaviour of the WIPP near-field and disturbed rock zone (DRZ). GSL helped to prepare the plan for the use of the WIPP underground for (international) in situ experiments to help in compliance monitoring and recertification.