The management of radioactive wastes in the UK

Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:5786317

Wilkinson, W L ^[1]

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1. British Nuclear Fuels Ltd., Risley (England)

The safe management and disposal of radioactive wastes is clearly a necessary requirement for the future development of nuclear energy. The nuclear program in the United Kingdom has evolved over the past 40 years, and the management of wastes arising from the industry has been developed in parallel. Strategy is in place for the management of all categories of waste, i.e., low-, intermediate-, and high-level wastes, and good progress is being made on the facilities for the conditioning of these wastes and their eventual disposal. Low-level wastes (LLW) will be compacted and the compacts grouted into steel containers prior to being disposed of in shallow engineered vaults at the Drigg disposal site near Sellafield. Intermediate-level wastes (ILW) arising from reprocessing operations and elsewhere will be encapsulated in cement in 500-{ell} stainless steel drums (or other containers) at Sellafield. High-level liquid waste from reprocessing operations, which has hitherto been stored in concentrated form in high-integrity tanks, is now being vitrified at Sellafield, and the canisters of glass will be stored for at least 50 years prior to final disposal.

• OSTI ID: 5786317
• Report Number(s): CONF-910603-; CODEN: TANSA
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Vol. 63; Conference: Annual meeting of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), Orlando, FL (United States), 2-6 Jun 1991; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
INTERMEDIATE-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
UNITED KINGDOM
CEMENTS
COMPACTING
CONTAINERS
ENCAPSULATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FUEL ASSEMBLY DISMANTLING
GEOLOGY
GROUND DISPOSAL
IAEA
MAGNOX TYPE REACTORS
OPERATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
REPROCESSING
RISK ASSESSMENT
SAFETY
SELLAFIELD REPROCESSING PLANT
SPENT FUEL ELEMENTS
STAINLESS STEELS
VITRIFICATION
ALLOYS
BUILDING MATERIALS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EUROPE
FUEL ELEMENTS
FUEL REPROCESSING PLANTS
GAS COOLED REACTORS
GCR TYPE REACTORS
GRAPHITE MODERATED REACTORS
HIGH ALLOY STEELS
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
NATURAL URANIUM REACTORS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
STEELS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
052000* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Management