scholarly journals The Innovations, Technology and Waste Management Approaches to Safely Package and Transport the World’s First Radioactive Fusion Research Reactor for Burial

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Rule ◽  
Erik Perry ◽  
Jim Chrzanowski ◽  
Mike Viola ◽  
Ron Strykowsky
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Research Reactor ◽  
Fusion Research ◽  
Disposal Facility ◽  
Management Approaches ◽  
Test Reactor ◽  
The Many

Original estimates stated that the amount of radioactive waste that will be generated during the dismantling of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (Fig. 1) will approach 2 Million Kilograms with an associated volume of 2500 cubic meters. The materials were activated by 14 Mev neutrons and were highly contaminated with tritium, which present unique challenges to maintain integrity during packaging and transportation. In addition, the majority of this material is stainless steel and copper structural metal that were specifically designed and manufactured for this one-of-a-kind fusion research reactor. This provided further complexity in planning and managing the waste. We will discuss the engineering concepts, innovative practices, and technologies that were utilized to size reduce, stabilize and package the many unique and complex components of this reactor. This waste was packaged and shipped in many different configurations and methods according to the transportation regulations and disposal facility requirements. For this particular project we were able to utilize two separate disposal facilities for burial. This paper will conclude with a complete summary of the actual results of the waste management costs, volumes, and best practices that were developed from this groundbreaking and successful project.

Optimization Features in Management of Salaspils Research Reactor Decommissioning Waste

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Dreimanis
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Research Reactor ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Environmental Safety ◽  
Radioactive Waste Disposal ◽  
Disposal Site ◽  
Radioactive Waste Management ◽  
Safety Control ◽  
Simplified Approach

Management of decommissioning waste is considered as complex task of seeking for optimal solution in the environment of various competing technical, safety and socio-economical factors. If from the formal mathematics viewpoint it is a multi-parameter optimization task, then for real conditions simplified approach for such problem should be applied. We propose to decompose this task into the set of optimization analysis for particular steps, and then in each step it is easier to find optimum. For the real case of management of radioactive waste arising from dismantling and decommissioning of Salaspils Research Reactor (SRR) we consider following main optimization steps: 1) the choice of the decommissioning concept — among three elaborated versions — with estimation of the foreseen radioactive waste amount for disposal, recycling and free release, taking into account also potential exposures and financial resources; 2) establishment of national radioactive waste management agency “RAPA” Ltd., ensuring common administration and maintenance of the shutdown SRR and radioactive waste (RW) disposal site — RAPA manages some decommissioning activities of SRR and shall actively participate together with envisaged decommissioning operator in this process also in future, but in all stages will keep full responsibility of waste management; 3) optimization of radioactive waste transportation: i) organizational aspects (packing, transportation time, schedule, route, etc.), ii) environmental safety control; 4) optimization arrangement of space for radioactive waste disposal: i) choice of the best strategy to ensure a new space, ii) optimization of the vault size — to be able accommodate decommissioning waste without being oversized; 5) strategy of treatment, conditioning and packing of solid decommissioning waste; 6) optimization of liquid decommissioning waste management — its conditioning together with the solid radioactive waste; 7) socio-economical optimization features: i) existing infrastructure for RW disposal, ii) financial compensation for local municipality, iii) international cooperation, technical and financial assistance by EU, IAEA, Sweden. The proposed optimization features used in the developing of Concept for radioactive waste management in Latvia for the period 2003–2010 (which corresponds to the approved decommissioning period of SRR) supplement existing separate optimization aspects of decommissioning waste management and could be considered as simplified integral set of factors for elaboration of optimal strategy for decommissioning waste management.

An overview of gas research in support of the UK geological disposal programme

2012 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 3271-3278 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Gas Generation ◽  
Irreversible Damage ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
A Value ◽  
Nuclear Decommissioning ◽  
Disposal Facility ◽  
System Pressure ◽  
The Uk

AbstractGases will be generated in waste packages during their transport to a geological disposal facility (GDF), this generation will continue during GDF operations and after GDF closure. The range of gases produced will include flammable, radioactive and chemotoxic species. These must be managed to ensure safety during transport and operations, and the post-closure consequences need to be understood. The two primary post-closure gas issues for a GDF are the need for the system pressure to remain below a value at which irreversible damage to the engineered barrier system and host geology could occur, and the need to ensure that any flux of gas (in particular gaseous radionuclides) to the biosphere does not result in unacceptable risk. This paper provides an overview of the research of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Radioactive Waste Management Directorate into gas generation and its migration from a GDF.

scholarly journals Thermal dimensioning to determine acceptable waste package loading and spatial configurations of heat-generating waste packages

2015 ◽  
Vol 79 (6) ◽  
pp. 1625-1632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Myers ◽  
David Holton ◽  
Andrew Hoch
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
High Heat ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
Waste Package ◽  
Thermal Limits ◽  
Disposal Facility ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Spatial Configurations

AbstractHeat-generating waste provides a number of additional technical challenges over and above those associated with the disposal of ILW. A priority area of work for Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) concerns the effect of heat on the engineered barrier system, and how this may be mitigated through the management of heat (thermal dimensioning) in a UK Geological Disposal Facility (GDF). The objective of thermal dimensioning is to provide a strategy to enable acceptable waste package loading and spatial configurations of the packages to be determined in order to enable high-heat generating waste to be successfully disposed in a GDF. An early focus of the work has been to develop a thermal modelling tool to support analyses of different combinations of package assumptions and other GDF factors, such as spacing of those packages, to assess the compliance with thermal limits. The approach has a capability to investigate quickly and efficiently the implications of a wide range of disposal concepts for the storage of spent fuel/HLW and the dimensions of a GDF. This study describes the approach taken to undertaking this work, which has included a robust appraisal of the key data (and the associated uncertainty); recent thermal dimensioning analysis has been performed to identify constraints on those disposal concepts.

scholarly journals Who Might Be Interested in a Deep Borehole Disposal Facility for Their Radioactive Waste?

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Management Programme ◽  
Radioactive Wastes ◽  
Deep Borehole ◽  
National Programme ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
Disposal Facility ◽  
Technical Issues

The deep borehole disposal (DBD) concept for certain types of radioactive wastes has been discussed for many decades, but has enjoyed limited R&D interest compared to ‘conventional’ geological disposal in an excavated repository at a few hundreds of metres depth. This article explores the circumstances under which a national waste management programme might wish to consider DBD. Starting with an assumption that further R&D will answer technical issues of DBD feasibility, it examines the types of waste that might be routed to borehole disposal and the strategic drivers that might make DBD attractive. The article concludes by identifying the types of national programme that might wish to pursue DBD further and the pre-requisites for them to give it serious consideration.

An overview of radionuclide behaviour research for the UK geological disposal programme

2012 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 3373-3380 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Vines ◽  
R. Beard
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Waste Disposal ◽  
High Level Waste ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
Nuclear Decommissioning ◽  
Disposal Facility ◽  
The Uk ◽  
High Level

AbstractIn the UK, radioactive wastes currently planned for disposal in a geological disposal facility (GDF) are intermediate-level waste, some low-level waste and high-level waste. Disposal of other materials, including spent fuel, separated uranium and separated plutonium are also included in the planning of a GDF, if such materials are classified as wastes in the future. This paper gives an overview of the radionuclide behaviour research studies of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Radioactive Waste Management Directorate (NDA RWMD). The NDA RWMD's current understanding of the processes that control radionuclide behaviour in groundwater and how the engineered and natural barriers in a GDF would contain radionuclides is presented. Areas requiring further work are also identified.

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