Developing Waste Characterization Capabilities in Support of the Near Surface Disposal Facility - 19245

Conference · Mon Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2019

OSTI ID:23003010

Adams, Katie; Swan, Josh ^[1]

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1. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Chalk River, Ontario (Canada)

Upon approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) Proposed Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) to be constructed at CNL's Chalk River Laboratories will be the first permanent disposal facility in Canada for the disposal of low level radioactive waste. The NSDF is currently in the approval process and as such, a preliminary Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) has been implemented for the proposed facility. Waste currently generated at CNL is being characterized to verify that it meets the WAC and will be 'disposal ready' once the NSDF is operational. A robust waste characterization program is required for the following reasons: 1. Improved waste segregation to support waste minimization and recycling to ensure non-radioactive waste is reliably segregated and removed from radioactive waste streams destined for the NSDF. This includes characterization and discrimination of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) and anthropogenic radioactive material. 2. To ensure low level waste (LLW) is properly characterized as per the limits stipulated within the WAC to ensure criteria is met for NSDF packaging requirements 3. To ensure intermediate level waste is reliably segregated from NSDF destined wastes streams The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the development of a waste characterization program strategy at Chalk River Laboratories and applicability of various waste streams; including consideration of important factors such as measurement methods, techniques, and the management of data. Emphasis is necessarily placed on non-destructive gamma spectrometry systems which are central to CNL's approach. A review of near-term developments is also provided. (authors)

• Research Organization: WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
• OSTI ID: 23003010
• Report Number(s): INIS-US--21-WM-19245
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
CHALK RIVER NUCLEAR LABS
GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY
GROUND DISPOSAL
INTERMEDIATE-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MINIMIZATION
NATURALLY OCCURRING RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
NONRADIOACTIVE WASTES
PACKAGING
RADIATION PROTECTION
RECYCLING