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Radiation Impact of Very Low Level Radioactive Steel Reused in Building Industry with Emphasis on External Exposure Pathway - 12569

Conference ·
OSTI ID:22293754
; ;  [1]
  1. Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Bratislava (Slovakia)
Considerable quantities of various materials are accumulated during the decommissioning process of nuclear installations. Some of arising materials are activated or contaminated. However, many of them continue to have an economic value and exist in a form that can be recycled or reused for special purposes. Furthermore much of the material generated during decommissioning process will contain only small amounts of radionuclides. For these materials there exist environmental and economic incentives to maximize the use of the concept of clearance from further regulatory control. This impact analysis is devoted to mentioned incentives. The aim is to conditionally clear maximum amount of the scrap steel and consequently recycle and reuse it in form of reinforcing components in tunnel and bridge building scenarios. Recent calculations relevant for external exposure pathway indicate that concept of conditional clearance represent a feasible option for the management of radioactive materials. Even in chosen specific industrial applications it is possible to justify new, approximately one order of magnitude higher, clearance levels. However analysis of other possible exposure pathways relevant for particular scenario of reuse of conditionally cleared materials has to be performed in order to confirm indications from partially obtained results. Basically, the concept of conditional clearance can bring two basic benefits. Firstly it is saving of considerable funds, which would be otherwise used for treatment, conditioning and disposal of materials at appropriate radioactive waste repository. Moreover materials with intrinsic value (particularly metals) can be recycled and reused in industrial applications instead of investing resources on mining and production process in order to obtain new, 'fresh' materials. (authors)
Research Organization:
WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9-332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
OSTI ID:
22293754
Report Number(s):
INIS-US--14-WM-12569
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English