8.4 mm IAEA Nuclear Energy Series IAEA Nuclear No. NW-T-1.18 No. Plants Power Nuclear in Characterization Waste for Factors Scaling of Use and Determination IAEA Nuclear Energy Series No. NW-T-1.18 Basic Determination and Principles Use of Scaling Factors for Waste Objectives Characterization in Nuclear Power Plants Guides Technical Reports INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA ISBN 978–92–0–110808–1 ISSN 1995–7807 08-36561_P1363_covI+IV.indd 1 2009-05-13 14:26:16 DETERMINATION AND USE OF SCALING FACTORS FOR WASTE CHARACTERIZATION IN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GUATEMALA OMAN ALBANIA HAITI PAKISTAN ALGERIA HOLY SEE PALAU ANGOLA HONDURAS PANAMA ARGENTINA HUNGARY PARAGUAY ARMENIA ICELAND PERU AUSTRALIA INDIA PHILIPPINES AUSTRIA INDONESIA POLAND AZERBAIJAN IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PORTUGAL BANGLADESH IRAQ QATAR BELARUS IRELAND REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA BELGIUM ISRAEL ROMANIA BELIZE ITALY RUSSIAN FEDERATION BENIN JAMAICA SAUDI ARABIA BOLIVIA JAPAN SENEGAL BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA JORDAN SERBIA BOTSWANA KAZAKHSTAN SEYCHELLES BRAZIL KENYA SIERRA LEONE BULGARIA KOREA, REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE BURKINA FASO KUWAIT SLOVAKIA CAMEROON KYRGYZSTAN SLOVENIA CANADA LATVIA SOUTH AFRICA CENTRAL AFRICAN LEBANON SPAIN REPUBLIC LIBERIA SRI LANKA CHAD LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA SUDAN CHILE LIECHTENSTEIN SWEDEN CHINA LITHUANIA SWITZERLAND COLOMBIA LUXEMBOURG SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC COSTA RICA MADAGASCAR TAJIKISTAN CÔTE D’IVOIRE MALAWI CROATIA MALAYSIA THAILAND CUBA MALI THE FORMER YUGOSLAV CYPRUS MALTA REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA CZECH REPUBLIC MARSHALL ISLANDS TUNISIA DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC MAURITANIA TURKEY OF THE CONGO MAURITIUS UGANDA DENMARK MEXICO UKRAINE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MONACO UNITED ARAB EMIRATES ECUADOR MONGOLIA UNITED KINGDOM OF EGYPT MONTENEGRO GREAT BRITAIN AND EL SALVADOR MOROCCO NORTHERN IRELAND ERITREA MOZAMBIQUE UNITED REPUBLIC ESTONIA MYANMAR OF TANZANIA ETHIOPIA NAMIBIA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FINLAND NEPAL URUGUAY FRANCE NETHERLANDS UZBEKISTAN GABON NEW ZEALAND VENEZUELA GEORGIA NICARAGUA VIETNAM GERMANY NIGER YEMEN GHANA NIGERIA ZAMBIA GREECE 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 NUCLEAR ENERGY SERIES No. NW-T-1.18 DETERMINATION AND USE OF SCALING FACTORS FOR WASTE CHARACTERIZATION IN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 2009 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. B o x 1 0 0 1400 Vienna, Austria fax: +43 1 2600 29302 tel.: +43 1 2600 22417 email: [email protected] http://www.iaea.org/books © IAEA, 2009 Printed by the IAEA in Austria April 2009 STI/PUB/1363 IAEA Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Determination and use of scaling factors for waste characterization in nuclear power plants. — Vienna : International Atomic Energy Agency, 2009. p. ; 29 cm. — (IAEA nuclear energy series, ISSN 1995-7807 ; no. NW-T-1.18) STI/PUB/1363 ISBN 978–92–0–110808–1 Includes bibliographical references. 1. Radioactive wastes — Analysis. 2. Radioactivity — Measurements. 3. Radiochemical analysis. I. International Atomic Energy Agency. II. Series. IAEAL 09–00576 FOREWORD Consistent with the IAEA’s published safety requirements for Predisposal Management of Radioactive Waste, Including Decommissioning (WS-R-2), radioactive waste disposal requires planned and systematic actions to provide confidence that the assessment of the radioactive inventory of the waste will satisfy given requirements for quality. However, many of the important long lived radionuclides contained in radioactive waste are difficult to measure (DTM) from the outside of waste packages using non-intrusive techniques because they are low energy, beta or alpha emitting nuclides. Identification of these DTM nuclides using complex radiochemical analysis is not practical for large numbers of waste packages. This report presents international experience with the scaling factor methodology that, in many cases, can be applied to evaluate the radioactive inventory of DTM nuclides in waste packages. This methodology relies on establishing a correlation (scaling factor) between the DTM nuclides and easy to measure (ETM) nuclides. The inventory of the ETM nuclides in a waste package can be derived based upon external gamma radiation measurements carried out on the waste package, and the DTM nuclides can be estimated from the inventory of the ETM nuclides using established scaling factors. Of specific interest is the extension of the applicability of the scaling factor methodology to the characterization of waste arising from the decommissioning of nuclear facilities, institutional waste and problematic/historical waste that needs to be retrieved from existing storage structures. This report was prepared at two consultants meetings, in December 2006 and September 2007, and at one technical meeting in September 2007. In total, 18 experts from 16 Member States, and five consultants from five other Member States participated at different stages in the development process. The IAEA wishes to express its appreciation to the individuals who took part in the preparation and publication of this report. Special thanks are extended to A. Husain (Canada), D.W. James (United States of America), B. Lantes (France), J.L. Leganes (Spain) and A. Zodiates (United Kingdom), consultants who were involved in the process from initial draft to the final version. Particular acknowledgement is due to M. Kashiwagi (Japan), who chaired the consultants meetings and coordinated the development of this report, as well as contributing significantly to the contents. Thanks are also due to M. Garamszeghy (Canada), who helped to finalize this report for publication. The IAEA officers responsible for this report were Z. Drace and P.J.C. Dinner of the Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology. EDITORIAL NOTE This report has been edited by the editorial staff of the IAEA to the extent necessary for the reader’s assistance. This 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 . 3 1.3. Scope . 3 1.4. Structure . 4 1.5. Key definitions . 4 2. SCALING FACTOR BASICS. 5 2.1. Basic philosophy . 5 2.1.1. Selection of difficult to measure key nuclide pairs . 6 2.1.2. Transport behaviour considerations . 9 2.2. Basis for evaluation . 10 3. SCALING FACTOR METHOD APPLICATIONS . 11 3.1. Application principles . 11 3.1.1. General . 11 3.1.2. Development of a sampling plan (step 1) . 12 3.1.3. Sampling and analysis (step 2) . 12 3.1.4. Evaluation of applicability (step 3) . 13 3.1.5. Determining scaling factor and evaluation of radioactivity (step 4) . 13 3.2. Summary of application practices in selected Member States . 13 4. COMMONALITY AND CONSENSUS IN SCALING FACTOR PROGRAMMES . 23 4.1. Evaluation of influencing factors . 23 4.1.1. Plant materials . 23 4.1.2. Fuel . 24 4.1.2.1. Fuel failure . 24 4.1.2.1.1. Experience in Japan . 24 4.1.2.1.2. Experience in the USA . 25 4.1.2.2. Fuel type . 26 4.1.3. Other factors . 27 4.1.3.1. Common scaling factor for multiple waste streams . 28 4.1.3.2. Solubility of radionuclides . 28 4.1.3.3. Volatility of radionuclides . 28 4.2. Evaluation of application methods . 30 4.2.1. Selection of the key nuclides . 30 4.2.2. Calculation method . 32 4.2.3. Trend evaluation and updates . 33 4.2.3.1. Experience in the United States of America . 33 4.2.3.2. Experience in Japan . 34 4.2.3.3. Experience in Spain . 34 4.2.4. International integration . 35 4.2.4.1. Activated corrosion product nuclides . 35 4.2.4.2. Fission product and alpha emitting nuclides . 37 4.3. Impacts of waste treatment . 38 4.3.1. Incineration . ..