Below Regulatory Concern Owners Group: Evaluation of dry active waste monitoring instruments and techniques: Final report
The disposal of low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) is costly, so most nuclear power stations have found or will find that it is cost-effective to dispose of dry active waste (DAW) with activity levels that are Below Regulatory Concern (BRC) at a sanitary landfill or incinerator. It appears that substantial volumes of DAW can be exempted from disposal as LLRW if the maximum exposure to an individual member of the public from BRC waste does not exceed a few mrem per year effective dose equivalent. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has requested that Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories (BNW) evaluate instruments and methods that could be used to measure surface contamination (activity per unit area) and radioactivity concentrations (activity per unit mass or volume) in BRC waste. Instrumentation utilized in a DAW BRC monitoring program must be capable of satisfying performance objectives. This instrumentations must measure bulk concentrations of radioactivity in DAW to assure that annual inventory disposal limits are not exceeded at each disposal site; measure radionuclide concentrations in disposal containers (e.g., bags, boxes, etc.) to assure that maximum allowable concentration limits in the DAW are not exceeded; assure that discrete radioactive particles (DRPs), if present in DAW, do not exceed maximum permissible activity limits; and possess detection capability to allow utilities to set operational limits between the detection limit and the disposal limit at their option. Our evaluations indicate that bag monitors and barrel counters have the necessary sensitivity to meet all of these objectives. 20 refs., 7 figs., 11 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (USA); Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 6378501
- Report Number(s):
- EPRI-NP-5682
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
GROUND DISPOSAL
RADIATION MONITORING
EVALUATION
COST
DOSE EQUIVALENTS
IMPLEMENTATION
INCINERATORS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MINIMIZATION
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
PROGRESS REPORT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
REGULATIONS
DOCUMENT TYPES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MONITORING
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
POWER PLANTS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
053000 - Nuclear Fuels- Environmental Aspects