"Radioactive waste (RW) management issues are important for the nuclear and radioactive safety of the Georgian population, as well as for the protection of the environment. The greatest part of the RW in Georgia is constituted by a high number of disused sealed, unsealed and orphan radioactive sources left after the independence of the country from the Soviet Union, and of RW generated during the decommissioning of the sole nuclear research reactor in the country. The operation of this reactor was terminated in 1988. All reactor operation parts were dismantled and the reactor's operator, the Institute of Physics, is conducting decontamination and processing of generated waste. All generated waste should be sent to the Central Storage Facility (CSF) for safe storage.

Cooperation between Georgia and the European Union (EU) on nuclear and radiation safety started in 2004. The EU, under the TACIS programmes and the Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation (INSC), has financed a number of interventions on nuclear and radiation safety that supported the national regulatory authority, now the Agency for Nuclear and Radiation Safety of Georgia (ANRS), and the operators of the two radioactive waste management sites: CSF and the radioactive waste disposal site of Saakadze, contributing to the development of safe, technically sound and economically justified management of all types of RW produced in Georgia, in line with the highest standards of safety. Two INSC interventions have highlighted a number of safety concerns for both these sites. Comprehensive information on RW management in Georgia was collected and analyzed. Subsequently, the Saakadze site was defined as the most appropriate site for the allocation of the RW storage and processing facility, and the conceptual design for the facility was elaborated.

The EU intervention "Nuclear Safety Cooperation with Georgia 2020 - 2022" (hereinafter "the Intervention") is a continuation of the previous INSC intervention and covers the Phase 2 of the preparation for the construction of the facility. It aims to support the implementation of the final operational safety assessment and detailed design for obtaining a construction permit for RW storage and processing facilities. The implementation, delegated by the EU to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) through a Contribution Agreement, includes EU funds and Sida's complementary funds for the institutional capacity development of the ANRS. ANRS and its Department for RWM are the Beneficiary and the End User of the Intervention respectively.

The Intervention is implemented by the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) as the implementing partner (IP) based on agreements between Sida and SSM.