Radioactive waste management Collecting, sorting, treating, conditioning, storing and disposing safely radioactive waste. Thematic series Radioactive waste is generated not only by the nuclear power industry, but also by hospitals, universities and non-nuclear industries. All the regulations applying to waste in general also apply to radioactive waste. However, radioactive waste emits radiation, which makes it a particular hazard for human health and the environment. It must therefore be managed with special care, from production to final disposal. Finding suitable waste disposal solutions is a major challenge for all stakeholders, industry, regulatory authorities, public authorities, local communities and the population. Fuel assembly. Radioactive waste management and disposal 1 n Radioactive waste p. 2 n Definitions and classification n Management solutions 2 n Management of long-lived waste p. 10 n Partitioning and transmutation n Storage n Deep geological disposal 3 n Deep geological disposal around the world p. 15 4 n Deep geological disposal in France p. 20 n Scientific and technical challenges for IRSN n A specific scientific approach n Significant results n An informed choice Radioactive waste Radioactive waste is the term used to describe radioactive subs- tances for which no further use is planned or considered. A radioactive substance is The radioactive properties of one that contains naturally this waste are: occurring or man-made radio- n the type of radionuclides nuclides, the radioactive level contained and the radiation or concentration of which emitted (alpha, beta, gamma), calls for radiation protection the activity (number of atomic control. nuclei which spontaneously According to the French disintegrate per unit time - Environmental Code (Art. expressed in becquerels); L 542.1-1), final radioactive n the radioactive half-life (the waste means radioactive waste time it takes for a radioactive for which no further treatment sample to loose half of its is possible under existing tech- activity). nical and economic conditions. Treatment particularly entails extracting any part of the waste that can be recycled or redu- cing any pollutants or hazar- dous substances it contains. The radionuclides contained in radioactive waste may be man- made, such as caesium-137, or found in nature, such as radium-226. Containers for vitrified waste (left) and compacted waste (right). 2 Most radioactive waste comes non-nuclear industries and from the nuclear industry. The defence-related activities. remainder comes from the use of radioactive elements in hos- pitals, universities, and some Definitions and classification Radioactive waste is classified and high-level waste. Radioactive according to its activity level waste is said to be “short- and the radioactive half-life of lived” if it merely only contains the radionuclides it contains. radionuclides with a half-life of The activity level determines less than 31 years. the degree of protection to be It is said to be “long-lived “if it provided. Waste is therefore contains a significant quantity divided into categories, namely of radionuclides with a half-life very low-, low-, intermediate- of over 31 years. Radionuclide Half-life Cobalt-60 5.2 years Tritium 12.2 years Strontium-90 28.1 years Caesium-137 30 years Americium-241 432 years Radium-226 1,600 years Carbon-14 5,730 years Plutonium-239 24,110 years Neptunium-237 2,140,000 years Iodine-129 15,700,000 years Uranium-238 4,470,000,000 years 3 Waste categories are as follows: part consists either of waste contaminated by radium n very short-lived waste (known as radium-bearing (VSLW) much of which comes waste), resulting mainly from from medical applications naturally radioactive raw of radioactivity (diagnoses materials used in industry, the and therapy), containing retrieval of radium-bearing radioactive elements with a objects and the cleanup of half-life of less than 100 days; polluted sites, or graphite n very low-level waste (VLLW) waste, which comes from the which comes from the nuclear decommissioning of old French industry, in particular from gas-cooled reactors (GCRs); facility decommissioning n intermediate-level long- operations. It consists of lived waste (ILW-LL) most of very slightly contaminated which is the result of spent dismantled equipment parts fuel reprocessing (spent fuel and rubble; claddings, reprocessing sludge, n low- and intermediate-level etc.) and nuclear facility short-lived waste (LILW-SL) maintenance work; which mainly comes from the n high-level and long-lived nuclear industry, as well as a waste (HLW-LL) consisting of few research laboratories; products resulting from spent n low-level long-lived waste fuel reprocessing that cannot (LLW-LL) which for the major be recycled. Decommissioning operations (VLLW). Graphite sleeve. 4 Solid waste in cemented drums before Embedding in cement. being embedded in cement. Management solutions Radioactive waste is extremely Treatment and conditioning: varied in terms of physical and different types of waste under- chemical form, radioactivity and go different types of treatment the half-life of the radioactive (incineration, calcination, mel- elements it contains, as well as ting, compacting, cementation, volume. In France, a specific pro- vitrification, etc.). It is then sea- cess is adopted for each category led in a container. The result is a of waste, including a series of radioactive waste package. operations such as sorting, treat- ment, conditioning, storage and Storage and disposal: storage disposal. facilities are designed to accom- modate waste packages for a Sorting: this consists in separa- limited period of time. Disposal is ting waste according to its dif- the final stage of the waste mana- ferent properties, in particular the half-lives of the radionuclides it gement process and implies that contains. It also involves separa- the packages have reached their ting waste that can be compac- final destination or, at least, that ted, incinerated or melted down there is no intention of retrie- to reduce the volume. ving them. That means, of course, 5 VLLW comprises rubble, scrap metal and piping, primarily from decommissioned nuclear facilities. that the steps taken must protect was closed in 1994, having people and the environment both reached its design capacity of in the short and very long term. 527,000 m3, and the CSA disposal facility (Aube), opened in 1992 Very short-lived waste (VSLW), and operated by Andra since. the radioactivity level of which disappears almost entirely in a Low-level long-lived waste few weeks to a few hundred days, (LLW-LL) is stored by the is stored long enough to decay organisations that generated before disposal, in particular via it pending a disposal solution. hospital waste systems. Intermediate-level long-lived Very low-level waste waste (ILW-LL, also called (VLLW) is sent to a disposal “B” waste) is compacted or facility in Morvilliers (Aube) cemented to make packages operated by Andra, the French that are stored where the waste National Radioactive Waste was generated. Management Agency. Once all nuclear power plants have been High-level and long-lived decommissioned, this waste waste (HLW-LL, also called “C” should represent an estimated waste) is vitrified. This involves volume of one to two million m3. incorporating highly radioactive waste in molten glass. Low- and intermediate-level short-lived waste (LILW-SL, also The waste, which is in a liquid called LLW-ILW or “A” waste) is form, is mixed with molten glass incinerated, melted, embedded and poured into stainless steel or compacted. Most of it is containers, then hermetically cemented in metal or concrete sealed by a welded lid. Once containers. It is disposed of at the glass has cooled down, two surface facilities: the CSM the radioactivity is trapped disposal facility (Manche), which inside the matrix.These waste 6 (Marcoule, Gard) or present (La Hague, Manche) production sites. Uranium mill tailings are also considered as waste. Areva is responsible for the tailings, which are disposed of on twenty or so mining sites. They represent about 52 million tonnes of material. All uranium VLLW comprises rubble, scrap metal and mines in France are now closed. piping, primarily from decommissioned nuclear facilities. Spent fuel, which contains uranium and plutonium and is stored in spent fuel pools at Areva’s La Hague plant, is not packages are currently stored by considered as waste as the the organisations that generated French Government implements the waste (CEA, Areva, their past a recycling policy. Metal Concrete Vitrified Compacted drum drum waste container waste container Different types of waste package. 7 Management solutions developed as part of the PNGMDR* for various waste categories Half-life Very short-lived Short-lived Long-lived (less than 100 days) (less than 31 years) (more than 31 years) Very low-level Dedicated surface disposal waste Recycling solutions (activity < 100 Bq/g) Dedicated Low-level waste subsurface disposal Surface disposal (under consideration) Managed (CSA disposal Intermediate- by radioactive facility - Aube) level waste decay Solutions under consideration under Article 3 of the Programme Act of 28 June 2006 High-level waste on the sustainable management of radioactive materials and waste * French national radioactive materials and waste management programme. 8 Every three years, Andra, the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency, prepares and publishes an inventory of radioactive materials and waste in France Waste Forecasts for Forecasts for (Equivalent conditioned m3) existing at the the end of the end of end of 2010 2020 2030 HLW 2,700 4,000 5,300 ILW-LL 40,000 45,000 49,000 LLW-LL 87,000 89,000 133,000 LILW-SL 830,000 1,000,000 1,200,000 VLLW 360,000 762,000 1,300,000 Management solution 3,600 to be defined approx. approx. approx. Total 1,320,000 1,900,000 2,700,000 Volumes at the end of 2010 and forecasts for the end of 2020 and 2030 for each radioac- tive waste category (National Inventory 2012 - source Andra).