The disposability of transuranic (TRU) waste (also known as long-lived intermediate level waste, ILW) has not received the same degree of attention as vitrified high-level waste (HLW) or spent fuel (SF). In many respects TRU/ILW represent more complex wasteforms. Two international workshops (in Switzerland in 1996 and Japan in 1999) have discussed the topic and several studies dedicated to such wastes have been undertaken, such as that by JNC of Japan in 2005. More recently, a third workshop in the series was held in January, 2005 in the UK, with the aim of providing an update on recent international progress in the field and indicating areas of potential common interest for future collaboration. This paper reviews the topics discussed at the workshop, presents the conclusions of the workshop and provides an update of the current status and the future direction of work in relation to TRU/ILW wastes. Overall, the workshop concluded that whilst there were still uncertainties and a number of outstanding issues where further work was required, there were no insurmountable obstacles to making safety cases for the disposal of TRU/ILW waste.
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