energies Review Management of Radioactive Waste Containing Graphite: Overview of Methods Leon Fuks * , Irena Herdzik-Koniecko, Katarzyna Kiegiel and Grazyna Zakrzewska-Koltuniewicz Centre for Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry, Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, 16 Dorodna, 03-161 Warszawa, Poland;
[email protected] (I.H.-K.);
[email protected] (K.K.);
[email protected] (G.Z.-K.) * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +48-22-504-1360 Received: 30 July 2020; Accepted: 4 September 2020; Published: 7 September 2020 Abstract: Since the beginning of the nuclear industry, graphite has been widely used as a moderator and reflector of neutrons in nuclear power reactors. Some reactors are relatively old and have already been shut down. As a result, a large amount of irradiated graphite has been generated. Although several thousand papers in the International Nuclear Information Service (INIS) database have discussed the management of radioactive waste containing graphite, knowledge of this problem is not common. The aim of the paper is to present the current status of the methods used in different countries to manage graphite-containing radioactive waste. Attention has been paid to the methods of handling spent TRISO fuel after its discharge from high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGR) reactors. Keywords: graphite; irradiated graphite; graphite processing; radioactive waste; waste management; waste disposal; spent TRISO fuel 1. Introduction As of December 31, 2018, 451 nuclear power reactors were in operation and produced 392,779 MWe of electricity. Fifty-five reactors, with a net capacity of 57,441 MWe, were under construction, while 172 reactors were permanently shut down [1].