42 YEARS OF DELIVERING GLOBAL PROGRESS IN WASTE MANAGEMENT THROUGH INNOVATION AND COLLABORATION

Welcome to the 42nd Annual Waste Management Conference, WM2016, the premier international conference for the management of radioactive materials and related topics. WM2016 will convene at the Phoenix Convention Center (PCC) from March 6 – 10, 2016.

We have made it our goal to build a conference that promotes innovation and collaboration around the world.  We have accomplished that again this year with nearly 30 countries represented and over 2,000 engineers, scientists, managers and students.

Our comprehensive technical program will deliver over 500 papers and 134 technical sessions and panels. It is complemented by an extensive exhibition. This year, we are especially proud to have the United Kingdom as our featured country to detail recent developments and ambitious plans for the future . Please be sure to visit the UK Pavilion located inside the Exhibit Hall to learn more about these developments.

We have made some exciting changes inside the Exhibit Hall this year. Several panel sessions and demonstrations will take place on the show floor throughout the week as well as additional areas and work stations for you to conduct business on the show floor.

On Thursday, March 10, WMS is proud to present a topical session entitled "International Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning: Time for Awareness and Planning" followed by a closing reception that evening.

This panel focuses on the approximately 200 nuclear power plants around the world that are slated to be decommissioned over the next twenty years. It is important that regulators, utilities and companies involved in decommissioning commence planning for this significant development. This panel will provide international views addressing regulatory issues, decommissioning cost estimation, remediation experience and expectations, decommissioning challenges, waste management issues and identification of sites planning decommissioning globally. The panel will consist of US and international experts.

In addition, there will be featured panel and paper sessions focusing on special topics from our featured sites, the US DOE site of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the US DOE site of Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. There will also be special reserved sessions on the Fukushima Project and D&D, Procurement and Contracting, Safety, Clean-up of Legacy Sites Worldwide, and IAEA Topics.

Our goal is to continuously improve the conference. If you have ideas on how to improve the technical content or the logistics of the conference, please let us know.

I would like to thank the WM team for their tireless efforts before and during the conference. Thanks to our sponsors and exhibitors for their contributions that enhance what we can accomplish. We appreciate the WM attendees whose involvement, collaboration, and insights make the conference exciting and meaningful.

We are a non-profit organization with the mission of supporting education. With your support and participation we are able to provide numerous scholarships each year to promising young people studying in the waste management field.   

I hope you enjoyed your time at WM2016.

Sincerely,

ISBN Number: 978-0-9828171-5-5

The conference proceedings are subject to the full terms of the License Agreement. Please review the License Agreement and ensure that you accept the full terms of the License Agreement before proceeding.