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Managing Low Radioactivity Material from the Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities

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Managing Low Radioactivity Material from the Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities 216 pages 12,88 mm technical reportS series no. This report presents options for the management of decommissioning materials to inform the production of a materials disposition strategy consistent with current IAEA guidance on clearance. It includes a review of the relevant safety, regulatory, technological, economic, social and administrative factors influencing 462 these options. The subject is examined in the context of the value, practicality and viability Technical Reports SeriEs No. 462 of the various disposition options, and the availability of suitable tools, techniques and Managing Low Radioactivity Material from the Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities instrumentation to monitor compliance with release criteria. Each of the range of disposition options discussed is feasible in principle, and successful applications in Member States are described. Managing Low Radioactivity Material from the Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA ISBN 978–92–0–109907–5 ISSN 0074–1914 D462_covI-IV.indd 1 2008-03-19 09:28:52 MANAGING LOW RADIOACTIVITY MATERIAL FROM THE DECOMMISSIONING OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GREECE NORWAY ALBANIA GUATEMALA PAKISTAN ALGERIA HAITI PALAU ANGOLA HOLY SEE PANAMA ARGENTINA HONDURAS PARAGUAY ARMENIA HUNGARY PERU AUSTRALIA ICELAND PHILIPPINES AUSTRIA INDIA POLAND AZERBAIJAN INDONESIA PORTUGAL BANGLADESH IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF QATAR BELARUS IRAQ REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA BELGIUM IRELAND ROMANIA BELIZE ISRAEL RUSSIAN FEDERATION BENIN ITALY SAUDI ARABIA BOLIVIA JAMAICA SENEGAL BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA JAPAN SERBIA BOTSWANA JORDAN SEYCHELLES BRAZIL KAZAKHSTAN SIERRA LEONE BULGARIA KENYA SINGAPORE BURKINA FASO KOREA, REPUBLIC OF SLOVAKIA CAMEROON KUWAIT SLOVENIA CANADA KYRGYZSTAN SOUTH AFRICA CENTRAL AFRICAN LATVIA SPAIN REPUBLIC LEBANON SRI LANKA CHAD LIBERIA SUDAN CHILE LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA SWEDEN CHINA LIECHTENSTEIN SWITZERLAND COLOMBIA LITHUANIA SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC COSTA RICA LUXEMBOURG TAJIKISTAN CÔTE D’IVOIRE MADAGASCAR THAILAND CROATIA MALAWI THE FORMER YUGOSLAV CUBA MALAYSIA REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA CYPRUS MALI TUNISIA CZECH REPUBLIC MALTA TURKEY DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC MARSHALL ISLANDS UGANDA OF THE CONGO MAURITANIA UKRAINE DENMARK MAURITIUS UNITED ARAB EMIRATES DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MEXICO UNITED KINGDOM OF ECUADOR MONACO GREAT BRITAIN AND EGYPT MONGOLIA NORTHERN IRELAND EL SALVADOR MONTENEGRO UNITED REPUBLIC ERITREA MOROCCO OF TANZANIA ESTONIA MOZAMBIQUE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ETHIOPIA MYANMAR URUGUAY FINLAND NAMIBIA UZBEKISTAN FRANCE NETHERLANDS VENEZUELA GABON NEW ZEALAND VIETNAM GEORGIA NICARAGUA YEMEN GERMANY NIGER ZAMBIA GHANA NIGERIA ZIMBABWE The Agency’s Statute was approved on 23 October 1956 by the Conference on the Statute of the IAEA held at United Nations Headquarters, New York; it entered into force on 29 July 1957. The Headquarters of the Agency are situated in Vienna. Its principal objective is “to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world’’. TECHNICAL REPORTS SERIES No. 462 MANAGING LOW RADIOACTIVITY MATERIAL FROM THE DECOMMISSIONING OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 2008 COPYRIGHT NOTICE All IAEA scientific and technical publications are protected by the terms of the Universal Copyright Convention as adopted in 1952 (Berne) and as revised in 1972 (Paris). The copyright has since been extended by the World Intellectual Property Organization (Geneva) to include electronic and virtual intellectual property. Permission to use whole or parts of texts contained in IAEA publications in printed or electronic form must be obtained and is usually subject to royalty agreements. Proposals for non-commercial reproductions and translations are welcomed and considered on a case-by-case basis. Enquiries should be addressed to the IAEA Publishing Section at: Sales and Promotion, Publishing Section International Atomic Energy Agency Wagramer Strasse 5 P.O. Box 100 1400 Vienna, Austria fax: +43 1 2600 29302 tel.: +43 1 2600 22417 email: [email protected] http://www.iaea.org/books © IAEA, 2008 Printed by the IAEA in Austria March 2008 STI/DOC/010/462 IAEA Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Managing low radioactivity material from the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. — Vienna : International Atomic Energy Agency, 2008. p. ; 24 cm. — (Technical reports series, ISSN 0074–1914) ; no. 462 STI/DOC/010/462 ISBN 978–92–0–109907–5 Includes bibliographical references. 1. Radioactive substances — Management. 2. Radioactive wastes. 3. Nuclear facilities — Decommissioning. I. International Atomic Energy Agency. II. Series: Technical reports series (International Atomic Energy Agency) ; 462. IAEAL 08–00507 FOREWORD The IAEA’s programme includes measures to support Member States in the planning and implementation of safe, timely and effective decommissioning of their nuclear facilities. The peculiar feature of nuclear as opposed to non- nuclear facility decommissioning is the presence of radioactivity. This hazard affects how dismantling and related activities are performed in order to ensure that personnel radiation doses are as low as reasonably achievable. In addition, it is necessary to manage the disposition of materials arising from decommissioning, recognizing the potential for these to produce a radiological hazard to the public and the environment. Some of the decommissioning materials will be activated or contaminated, some not. Some continue to have an economic value and/or are in a form that can be recycled or reused; others with little or no economic value will need to be disposed of as wastes, possibly after storage if no appropriate disposal route is currently available. Much of the material arising from decommissioning will contain, at most, only small amounts of radioisotopes. For these materials there are substantial environmental and economic incentives to maximize the use of the principles of clearance from further regulatory control. Options are presented in this report for the management of decommissioning material in order to inform the production of a materials disposition strategy consistent with current IAEA guidance. It includes a review of the relevant safety, regulatory, technological, economic, social and administrative factors influencing these options. The subject is examined in the context of the value, practicality and viability of the various disposition options, and the availability of suitable tools, techniques and instrumentation to monitor compliance with release criteria. The focus is at the lower range of radioactive concentrations in materials and wastes; high and intermediate level wastes are outside the scope of the report as disposal in dedicated repositories is assumed. Each of the range of disposition options discussed is feasible in principle and successful applications in Member States are described. This report is intended to contribute to the systematic coverage of the entire range of decommissioning issues within the IAEA’s decommissioning programme. It is hoped that this publication will assist in the flexible use of a wider range of disposition options than has sometimes been the case to date. The IAEA wishes to express its appreciation to all those who took part in the preparation of this report. The IAEA officers responsible for this publication were M. Laraia, V. Efremenkov and P.J. McIntyre of the Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology. EDITORIAL NOTE The report does not address questions of responsibility, legal or otherwise, for acts or omissions on the part of any person. Although great care has been taken to maintain the accuracy of information contained in this publication, neither the IAEA nor its Member States assume any responsibility for consequences which may arise from its use. The use of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement by the publisher, the IAEA, as to the legal status of such countries or territories, of their authorities and institutions or of the delimitation of their boundaries. The mention of names of specific companies or products (whether or not indicated as registered) does not imply any intention to infringe proprietary rights, nor should it be construed as an endorsement or recommendation on the part of the IAEA. CONTENTS SUMMARY . 1 1. INTRODUCTION . 3 1.1. Background . 3 1.2. Objective . 5 1.3. Scope . 5 2. MATERIALS ARISING IN LARGE QUANTITIES DURING DECOMMISSIONING . 6 2.1. Overview . 6 2.2. Range of decommissioning materials and wastes . 7 2.3. Typical materials arising in the decommissioning of specific nuclear facilities . 8 2.3.1. Refining and conversion . 8 2.3.2. Enrichment . 9 2.3.3. Fuel fabrication . 9 2.3.4. Nuclear power plants . 10 2.3.5. Spent fuel reprocessing . 13 2.3.6. Research, institutional and industrial facilities . 14 3. STRATEGIES FOR THE DISPOSITION OF LARGE AMOUNTS OF DECOMMISSIONING MATERIALS . 15 3.1. General considerations . 15 3.2. Potential approaches for the disposition of decommissioning materials/waste . 17 3.3. Unconditionally released materials for recycling or reuse . 19 3.4. Unconditionally released materials for disposal . 20 3.5. Radioactive material for conditional recycling/reuse within the non-nuclear industry . 21 3.6. Radioactive material for conditional recycling/reuse within the nuclear industry . 22 3.7. LLW disposed of in a dedicated repository or storage facility. 24 3.8. VLLW disposed of
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