German program for vitrified HLW and spent fuel management
- Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe (Germany)
- Bundesamt fuer Strahlenschutz, Salzgitter (Germany)
- Gesellschaft fuer Nucklear-Service mbH, Hannover (Germany)
The paper covers four topics: management of vitrified waste, management of spent fuel, final disposal, and the repository safety assessment. At present, German spent fuel is reprocessed abroad and vitrified high-level radioactive waste will be returned for disposal. Interim storage of this waste in Germany will be necessary until the planned repository at Gorleben becomes available. Two interim storage facilities have been built. Additionally, about 60 m{sup 3} of HAWC (highly active waste concentrate) produced at the reprocessing plant in Karlsruhe prior to shutdown will be vitrified at the PAMELA plant in Mol, Belgium, following plant adaptations and the installation of a new melter. Direct disposal of spent fuel is being developed to technical maturity. A pilot conditioning and encapsulation plant is under construction at Gorleben, and repository-related demonstration tests are being performed. Layout and optimization studies for a common repository for reprocessing waste and spent fuel are underway, and a safeguards plan for spent fuel disposal has been developed. Results from these activities will be available early enough to be incorporated into the repository licensing procedure. The Gorleben salt dome has been selected for the construction and operation of a repository for all types of radioactive waste, especially heat generating, such as vitrified waste and spent fuel elements. Experimental research is being carried out to characterize and understand the long-term physico-chemical and geochemical behavior of the waste forms in the near field of the repository and the aquatic chemistry of radionuclides in the near and far fields.
- OSTI ID:
- 100772
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-930906--; ISBN 0-7918-0691-X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CONSTRUCTION
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
PACKAGING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
REPROCESSING
SAFETY ANALYSIS
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
SPENT FUELS
VITRIFICATION
WASTE FORMS