Radioactive waste management at nuclear electric power stations

Conference · Fri Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1993

OSTI ID:113100

Gordelier, S C ^[1]

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1. Nuclear Electric plc, Barnwood (United Kingdom)

After suitable treatment, gaseous and liquid wastes are routinely discharged from Nuclear Electric`s stations and are diluted and dispersed in the environment. The discharges are controlled and authorized under UK legislation and the environmental impact is minimal. Most solid wastes were originally accumulated at the site of origin, but since 1978 low level wastes (LLW) have been send to the UK`s main disposal site at Drigg. Recent changes at Drigg have resulted in changed arrangements for the transport and disposal of low-level wastes, including volume reduction by supercompaction. Small amounts of intermediate-level waste (ILW) have been conditioned and disposed of in the sea but this route is now effectively closed and there is currently no disposal route for ILW in the UK. Spent ion exchange resins at one power station have been conditioned and are stored pending the availability of a disposal route. Most ILW will continue to be stored in retrievable form on the site of origin until a mobile waste treatment plant can be brought into use. The timing of this will be subject to agreement with the regulators. In the case of Magnox fuel element debris, a demonstration dissolution plant has been constructed and this will significantly reduce the volume of waste being stored while retaining the bulk of the activity on site for later treatment. A further development has been the construction of a new facility which will hold Magnox fuel element debris in 500 liter drums.

• OSTI ID: 113100
• Report Number(s): CONF-930906--; ISBN 0-7918-0691-X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
COMPACTING
CONSTRUCTION
INTERMEDIATE-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
ION EXCHANGE MATERIALS
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MARINE DISPOSAL
MONITORED RETRIEVABLE STORAGE
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
SOLID WASTES
SPENT FUELS
STORAGE FACILITIES
UNITED KINGDOM