Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
10/16/2015
Researchers with the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) have made a “breakthrough discovery” in the packaging and disposal of intermediate-level waste (ILW) that could save millions and advance the timeline of the cleanup at the Sellafield site, the NDA announced this week. The research centered on ILW stored in the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo for over 50 years— a priority cleanup area within the NDA. Previously, a 22-step mechanical treatment and encapsulation process was needed to deal with the waste, but researchers found that only a three-step process that stores the waste “raw” with concrete grout inside a shielded container is needed.
“This research has delivered the underpinning to what could be a paradigm shift in the management of nuclear waste,” NDA Strategy and Technology Director Adrian Simper said in a statement. “Having a greater understanding of the long-term behavior of this material allows us to design a truly fit-for-purpose approach to its management and disposal. To be able to deliver a technical solution to historic ILW at Sellafield, which not only offers a safe and secure route but also opens up the possibility of a quicker and cheaper alternative to current technology, is a genuinely exciting development.”
The study focused on the chemical behaviors of the ILW in storage for over 50 years, with an emphasis on the corrosion behaviors of magnesium and uranium. It shed new light on the hazards these materials pose to people and the environment in the long term, according to a press release.
With a three-step process, the new method “could speed up the decommissioning of the silo by several years and provide huge savings to the taxpayer,” the NDA said. The process would also reduce the amount of secondary waste created during the treatment phase, resulting in an estimated 10 percent fewer waste packages being produced during decommissioning.
The new waste packages would also meet criteria for interim storage at Sellafield and then, once grouted, final disposal in a U.K. geological disposal facility. According to the NDA, Radioactive Waste Management, the organization responsible for disposal of the United Kingdom’s high-level nuclear waste, has confirmed that once finished and finally grouted, the waste packages would meet the acceptability requirements for disposal.
