Comparative Legal Analysis of Safe Handling of Liquid Radioactive Waste in Ukraine and Most EU Countries

The article is devoted to the study of legislation aimed at regulating relations on the safe management of liquid radioactive waste in the EU, individual EU Member States, and Ukraine. This problem is relevant for the entire global community, as such waste can emit harmful ionizing radiation, which can not only lead to radiation sickness but also cause radiation pollution of the environment. Ukrainian legislation also deserves special attention, as in 1986, the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident occurred in Ukraine, which resulted in a large release of radioactive materials. Therefore, the approaches to the safe management of liquid radioactive waste implemented in Ukraine deserve special attention. The article focuses on a comparative analysis of Council Directive 2011/70/Euroatom with the national legislation of all EU Member States and Ukrainian legislation. The author draws a reasonable conclusion that all European Community States seek to protect their populations from the hazards that may arise because of ionizing radiation. A comparative analysis of the results of the implementation of this Directive has shown that the EU Member States face the greatest problems with the development of a national radioactive waste management program containing key performance indicators; timely informing the European Commission of new national programs and any significant changes to them; and the establishment of a regulatory body in the field of radioactive waste management safety that would be sufficiently independent of public authorities. Several proposals were made to bring Ukrainian legislation in line with Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom.