IAEA-TECDOC-1790 IAEA-TECDOC-1790 IAEA TECDOC SERIES Processing of Irradiated Graphite to Meet Acceptance Criteria for Waste Disposal Waste Acceptance Criteria for Processing of Irradiated Graphite to Meet IAEA-TECDOC-1790 Processing of Irradiated Graphite to Meet Acceptance Criteria for Waste Disposal Results of a Coordinated Research Project @ PROCESSING OF IRRADIATED GRAPHITE TO MEET ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA FOR WASTE DISPOSAL The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GEORGIA OMAN ALBANIA GERMANY PAKISTAN ALGERIA GHANA PALAU ANGOLA GREECE PANAMA ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA GUATEMALA PAPUA NEW GUINEA ARGENTINA GUYANA PARAGUAY ARMENIA HAITI PERU AUSTRALIA HOLY SEE PHILIPPINES AUSTRIA HONDURAS POLAND AZERBAIJAN HUNGARY PORTUGAL BAHAMAS ICELAND QATAR BAHRAIN INDIA REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA BANGLADESH INDONESIA ROMANIA BARBADOS IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION BELARUS IRAQ RWANDA BELGIUM IRELAND SAN MARINO BELIZE ISRAEL SAUDI ARABIA BENIN ITALY SENEGAL BOLIVIA, PLURINATIONAL JAMAICA SERBIA STATE OF JAPAN SEYCHELLES BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA JORDAN SIERRA LEONE BOTSWANA KAZAKHSTAN SINGAPORE BRAZIL KENYA SLOVAKIA BRUNEI DARUSSALAM KOREA, REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA BULGARIA KUWAIT SOUTH AFRICA BURKINA FASO KYRGYZSTAN SPAIN BURUNDI LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC SRI LANKA CAMBODIA REPUBLIC SUDAN CAMEROON LATVIA SWAZILAND CANADA LEBANON SWEDEN CENTRAL AFRICAN LESOTHO SWITZERLAND REPUBLIC LIBERIA SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC CHAD LIBYA TAJIKISTAN CHILE LIECHTENSTEIN THAILAND CHINA LITHUANIA THE FORMER YUGOSLAV COLOMBIA LUXEMBOURG REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA CONGO MADAGASCAR TOGO COSTA RICA MALAWI TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO CÔTE D’IVOIRE MALAYSIA TUNISIA CROATIA MALI TURKEY CUBA MALTA TURKMENISTAN CYPRUS MARSHALL ISLANDS UGANDA CZECH REPUBLIC MAURITANIA UKRAINE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC MAURITIUS UNITED ARAB EMIRATES OF THE CONGO MEXICO UNITED KINGDOM OF DENMARK MONACO GREAT BRITAIN AND DJIBOUTI MONGOLIA NORTHERN IRELAND DOMINICA MONTENEGRO UNITED REPUBLIC DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MOROCCO OF TANZANIA ECUADOR MOZAMBIQUE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA EGYPT MYANMAR URUGUAY EL SALVADOR NAMIBIA UZBEKISTAN ERITREA NEPAL VANUATU ESTONIA NETHERLANDS VENEZUELA, BOLIVARIAN ETHIOPIA NEW ZEALAND REPUBLIC OF FIJI NICARAGUA VIET NAM FINLAND NIGER YEMEN FRANCE NIGERIA ZAMBIA GABON NORWAY 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’’. IAEA-TECDOC-1790 PROCESSING OF IRRADIATED GRAPHITE TO MEET ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA FOR WASTE DISPOSAL RESULTS OF A COORDINATED RESEARCH PROJECT INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 2016 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: Marketing and Sales Unit, Publishing Section International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100 1400 Vienna, Austria fax: +43 1 2600 29302 tel.: +43 1 2600 22417 email: [email protected] http://www.iaea.org/books For further information on this publication, please contact: Waste Technology Section International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100 1400 Vienna, Austria Email: [email protected] © IAEA, 2016 Printed by the IAEA in Austria May 2016 IAEA Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Names: International Atomic Energy Agency. Title: Processing of irradiated graphite to meet acceptance criteria for waste disposal : results of a coordinated research project / International Atomic Energy Agency. Description: Vienna : International Atomic Energy Agency, 2016. | Series: IAEA TECDOC series, ISSN 1011–4289 ; no. 1790 | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: IAEAL 16-01038 | ISBN 978–92–0–104016–9 (paperback : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Radioactive waste disposal. | Hazardous wastes — Management. | Graphite. FOREWORD Radioactive waste, with a wide range of characteristics, is generated from the operation and maintenance of nuclear power plants, nuclear fuel cycle facilities, research laboratories and medical facilities. These wastes need to be treated and conditioned as necessary to provide waste forms acceptable for safe storage and disposal. A specific waste stream that arises from the generation of nuclear power and its associated activities is graphite. Graphite has been used as a moderator and reflector of neutrons in more than 100 nuclear power plants and in many research and plutonium producing reactors or piles, in quantities ranging from a few kilograms to more than 3000 tonnes per reactor, depending upon the design. In a number of reactor designs, it is also used as a fuel sleeving material, leading to the generation of large amounts of less irradiated but still significantly radioactive material. The current resurgence of interest in the high temperature reactor in certain Member States provides a need to demonstrate that the totality of the carbon materials present in their reflectors and in the fuel itself can be appropriately managed throughout the graphite life cycle. Many of the older reactors are now shut down, with more approaching the end of their lives, and approximately 250 000 tonnes of irradiated graphite (i-graphite) have now accumulated worldwide. At the same time, progress towards ultimate disposal solutions remains slow, with increasing amounts of i-graphite residing in temporary storage facilities pending disposal. The pressure to resolve these issues differs widely among Member States, depending upon the dismantling strategies envisaged by their waste authorities. However, there is now an increasing sense of urgency to make substantial progress in Member States where it is government policy to commence reactor dismantling in the near future, and this is driving international efforts to further explore the characterization, potential processing options and disposal alternatives for this material. This report is the result of a coordinated research project (CRP) entitled Treatment of Irradiated Graphite to Meet Acceptance Criteria for Waste Disposal, which involved organizations from ten Member States. The most recent comprehensive IAEA publication on this topic dates from 2006, followed by the collected proceedings of a conference on i-graphite published in 2010. This publication seeks both to update the position generally and to report the findings of work conducted in the CRP. This work took place alongside the EU CARBOWASTE programme. The termination of the CARBOWASTE programme was marked by a joint meeting with members of the CRP. This publication aims to serve as a review of the current state of the art, a bibliography and as part of the ‘toolbox’ available to Member State authorities seeking to determine their local strategy for dealing with radioactive graphite. The IAEA wishes to express its appreciation to all those who participated in the production and preparation of this publication, in particular to A.J. Wickham (United Kingdom), who served as Chief Scientific Investigator and as Chairman of the research coordination meetings and who was also responsible for the drafting of this publication. The IAEA officers responsible for this publication were Z. Drace and M. Ojovan of the Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology. EDITORIAL NOTE This publication has been prepared from the original material as submitted by the contributors and has not been edited by the editorial staff of the IAEA. The views expressed remain the responsibility of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of the IAEA or its Member States. Neither the IAEA nor its Member States assume any responsibility for consequences which may arise from the use of this publication. This publication does not address questions of responsibility, legal or otherwise, for acts or omissions on the part of any person. 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. The IAEA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third party Internet web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................... 1 1.1 BACKGROUND............................................................................