The Implementing Geological Disposal Technology Platform: Key Challenges in Research and Development in Radioactive Waste Management

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Delay ◽  
Jiri Slovak ◽  
Raymond Kowe
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Added Value ◽  
High Level Waste ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
Technology Platform ◽  
Joint Activities ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Level

The Implementing Geological Disposal of Radioactive Waste Technology Platform (IGD-TP) was launched in November 2009 to tackle the remaining research, development and demonstration (RD&D) challenges with a view to fostering the implementation of geological disposal programmes for high-level and long-lived waste in Europe. The IGD-TP’s Vision is that “by 2025, the first geological disposal facilities for spent fuel, high-level waste and other long-lived radioactive waste will be operating safely in Europe”. Aside from most of European waste management organisations, the IGD-TP now has 110 members covering most of the RD&D actors in the field of implementing geological disposal of radioactive waste in Europe. The IGD-TP Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), that defines shared RD&D priorities with an important cooperative added value, is used as a basis for the Euratom programme. It provides a vehicle to emphasise RD&D and networking activities that are important for establishing safety cases and fostering disposal implementation. As the IGD-TP brings together the national organisations which have a mandate to implement geological disposal and act as science providers, its SRA also ensures a balance between fundamental science, implementation-driven RD&D and technological demonstration. The SRA is in turn supported by a Deployment Plan (DP) for the Joint Activities to be carried out by the Technology Platform with its members and participants. The Joint Activities were derived from the individual SRA Topics and prioritized and assigned a timeline for their implementation. The deployment scheme of the activities is updated on a yearly basis.

scholarly journals The Implementing Geological Disposal Technology Platform – addressing the needs of new Member States

2015 ◽  
Vol 79 (6) ◽  
pp. 1591-1597 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Kowe ◽  
J. Delay ◽  
M. Hammarström ◽  
T. Beattie ◽  
M. Palmu
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
High Level Waste ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Member States ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
Technology Platform ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
High Level ◽  
European Union Member States

AbstractThe Implementing Geological Disposal of Radioactive Waste Technology Platform (IGD-TP) was launched in November 2009 to facilitate international cooperation in common areas of research, development and demonstration (RD&D) with a view to advancing the implementation of geological disposal facilities for spent fuel, high-level and other long-lived waste in Europe.The IGD-TP's Vision is that “by 2025, the first geological disposal facilities for spent fuel, high-level waste and other long-lived radioactive waste will be operating safely in Europe”. Aside from most European waste management organisations, the IGD-TP currently has 124 members covering most of the RD&D actors in the field of implementing geological disposal of radioactive waste in Europe.Five years after its inception, the IGD-TP has been shown to play a leading role in coordinating joint actions for RD&D in radioactive waste geological disposal programmes. The work of the platform takes into account differences between the timing and challenges for the respective waste management programmes. Following implementation of Posiva's geological disposal facility in Finland it is expected that within the next 5 years the construction of the Swedish and French geological disposal facilities will commence. Within IGD-TP, the SecIGD2 project whose remit is “Coordination and Support Action under the 7th Framework programme” aims at supporting, at the European level, the networking and structuring of RD&D programmes and competences in countries with less advanced geological disposal programmes, including those in the new European Union Member States. Furthermore, the SecIGD2 supports the development and coordination of the necessary competences to meet the Vision 2025 as a part of the platform's Competence Maintenance, Education and Training (CMET) working group.

scholarly journals Towards an “Implementing Geological Disposal Technology Platform” in Europe

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Marjatta Palmu ◽  
Torsten L. Eng
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Radioactive Waste Disposal ◽  
Current Status ◽  
High Level Waste ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
Technology Platform ◽  
High Level Radioactive Waste ◽  
Deep Geological Disposal ◽  
High Level

Several European waste management organizations have started the work on creating a technology platform to accelerate the implementation of deep geological disposal of radioactive waste in Europe. There is an increasing consensus in the international community [1] about geological disposal as the preferred option for solving the long-term management of spent fuel, high-level waste, and other long-lived radioactive wastes. At the same time, the European citizens [2] have a widespread wish for a solution for high-level radioactive waste disposal. A majority of the European countries with nuclear power have active waste management programmes, but the current status and the main challenges of those programmes vary. The most advanced waste management programmes in Europe (i.e. Sweden, Finland and France) are prepared to start the licensing process of deep geological disposal facilities within the next decade. Despite the differences between the timing and the challenges of the different programmes, there is a joint awareness that cooperation on the scientific, technical, and social challenges related to geological disposal is needed, and the cooperation will be beneficial for the timely and safe implementation of the first geological disposal facilities. Such a demonstration of a viable solution for the management of high-level radioactive waste will enhance stakeholder confidence in Europe. Several decades of research, development and demonstration (RD&D) have been carried out in the field of geological disposal. International opportunities of cooperation and establishing a technology platform were explored in the European Commission co-funded projects like Net.Excel [3] and CARD [4]. According to the CARD project, the majority of the funding for RD&D in waste management comes from the implementing organizations. It is envisaged that a technology platform would enhance European cooperation in this area. The platform intends to constitute a tool for reducing overlapping work, to produce savings in total costs of research and implementation, and to make better use of existing competence and research infrastructures. After the final workshop of the CARD project in 2008, SKB (Sweden) and Posiva (Finland) were committed to lead the preparation work to set-up the Implementing Geological Disposal of Radioactive Waste Technology Platform (IGD-TP). Other implementers from France, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, Spain, and Belgium joined en suite. A Vision Document for the IGD-TP is about to be finalized after a wider consultation was carried out in July 2009. The final Vision Document and the platform are launched during November 2009. Simultaneously, the preparation of the Strategic Research Agenda for the technology platform’s joint work starts.

scholarly journals Towards an 'implementing geological disposal technology platform' in Europe

2012 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 3439-3444 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Palmu ◽  
T. Eng ◽  
T. M. Beattie
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Radioactive Waste Disposal ◽  
Current Status ◽  
High Level Waste ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
Technology Platform ◽  
High Level Radioactive Waste ◽  
Deep Geological Disposal ◽  
High Level

AbstractSeveral European waste management organizations have started work on creating a technology platform to accelerate the implementation of deep geological disposal of radioactive waste in Europe. There is an increasing consensus in the international community about geological disposal as the preferred option for solving the long-term management of spent fuel, high-level waste and other longlived radioactive wastes. At the same time, European citizens have a widespread desire for a permanent solution for high-level radioactive waste disposal. A majority of European countries with nuclear power have active waste-management programmes, but the current status and the main challenges of those programmes vary. The most advanced waste management programmes in Europe (i.e. those in Sweden, Finland and France) are prepared to start the licensing process of deep geological disposal facilities within the next decade. Despite the differences between the timing and the challenges of the different programmes, there is a joint awareness that cooperation on the scientific, technical and social challenges related to geological disposal is needed, and that it is beneficial for the timely and safe implementation of the first geological disposal facilities. Such a demonstration of a viable solution for the management of high-level radioactive waste will enhance stakeholder confidence in Europe. It is envisaged that a technology platform would enhance European cooperation in this area. The platform will provide a tool for reducing overlapping work, to produce savings in total costs of research and implementation, and to make better use of existing competence and research infrastructures. From 2008, SKB (Sweden) and Posiva (Finland) led the preparation work to set up the implementing geological disposal of radioactive waste technology platform (IGD-TP). Since then other implementers from France, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Spain and Belgium have joined the project. To date a strategic research agenda for the platform has been prepared and consulted upon, which is now the basis for taking the platform into a deployment phase.

An overview of radionuclide behaviour research for the UK geological disposal programme

2012 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 3373-3380 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Vines ◽  
R. Beard
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Waste Disposal ◽  
High Level Waste ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
Nuclear Decommissioning ◽  
Disposal Facility ◽  
The Uk ◽  
High Level

AbstractIn the UK, radioactive wastes currently planned for disposal in a geological disposal facility (GDF) are intermediate-level waste, some low-level waste and high-level waste. Disposal of other materials, including spent fuel, separated uranium and separated plutonium are also included in the planning of a GDF, if such materials are classified as wastes in the future. This paper gives an overview of the radionuclide behaviour research studies of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Radioactive Waste Management Directorate (NDA RWMD). The NDA RWMD's current understanding of the processes that control radionuclide behaviour in groundwater and how the engineered and natural barriers in a GDF would contain radionuclides is presented. Areas requiring further work are also identified.

Safety Assessment of Geological Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste in Boom Clay: Relation With the Radionuclide Inventory

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Van Iseghem ◽  
Jan Marivoet
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Safety Assessment ◽  
High Level Waste ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
High Level Radioactive Waste ◽  
Boom Clay ◽  
High Level ◽  
Clay Formation ◽  
Parameter Values

This paper discusses the impact of the parameter values used for the transport of radionuclides from high-level radioactive waste to the far-field on the long-term safety of a proposed geological disposal in the Boom Clay formation in Belgium. The methodology of the Safety Assessment is explained, and the results of the Safety Assessment for vitrified high-level waste and spent fuel are presented. The radionuclides having the strongest impact on the dose-to-man for both HLW glass and spent fuel are 79Se, 129I, 126Sn, 36Cl, and 99Tc. Some of them are volatile during the vitrification process, other radionuclides are activation products, and for many of them there is no accurate information on their inventory in the waste form. The hypotheses in the selection of the main parameter values are further discussed, together with the status of the R&D on one of the main dose contributing radionuclides (79Se).

Interactions between the co-located intermediate-level waste/low-level waste and high-level waste/spent fuel components of a geological disposal facility

2012 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 3475-3482 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. W. Hicks ◽  
S. Watson ◽  
S. Norris ◽  
G. Towler ◽  
D. Reedha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
White Paper ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
High Level Waste ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
Disposal Facility ◽  
Three Dimensional Models ◽  
High Level

AbstractThe 2008 UK government White Paper, published as part of the Managing Radioactive Waste Safety programme, identified benefits to disposing of all of the UK's higher activity wastes at the same site. That is, a single geological disposal facility (GDF) could be constructed that consists of a module for low- and intermediate-level waste, and a module for high-level waste and spent fuel.A safety case for a co-located GDF will have to consider the extent to which evolving thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical and gas (THMCG) conditions in and around one module may affect conditions in the other module, including the extent to which barrier performance and radionuclide migration behaviour could be altered. Several research projects have been undertaken on behalf of Radioactive Waste Management Directorate aimed at understanding and evaluating the THMCG interactions that might occur during the disposal facility operational and post-closure phases.This paper describes research on THMCG interactions between disposal modules based on illustrative GDF designs for different host rock environments. Interactions were evaluated using simple analytical solutions and detailed three-dimensional models. The analyses demonstrated that interactions can be controlled by design constraints.

Belgian Co-Operation With the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Schittekat ◽  
Geert Volckaert ◽  
Michel De Valkeneer
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Nuclear Waste ◽  
Slovak Republic ◽  
High Level Waste ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
High Level ◽  
Interim Storage

Abstract Since mid nineties, the Belgian Government has granted funding to Belgatom and SCK•CEN to initiate collaborations with four Eastern European countries in the field of nuclear waste disposal safety. The covered matters are essentially the disposal of nuclear waste and the interim storage of spent fuel. This was a good opportunity for Belgatom and SCK•CEN to share their extensive expertise in the fields of geological disposal, site selection, performance assessment and spent fuel interim storage. In the Czech Republic, the mission deals with assistance in the bidding process for an interim dry spent fuel storage facility for fuel originating from the Dukovany site. The matters covered in the Slovak Republic are the interim storage of spent fuel and the disposal of high level waste. In Hungary, the co-operation addresses spent fuel management, low-level and high-level waste management. In Slovenia the co-operation included provision of expertise concerning LILW management and collaboration in the field of geological disposal. The co-operation is since 2001 extended to Russia, focusing on low-level waste management.

Impact of Advanced Fuel Cycles on Geological Disposal

2009 ◽  
Vol 1193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Marivoet ◽  
Eef Weetjens
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Cooling Time ◽  
High Level Waste ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
Fuel Cycles ◽  
Thermal Output ◽  
Advanced Fuel ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn recent years the increasing oil prices and the need for carbon-free energy to limit global warming have resulted in a revival of interests in nuclear energy. Advanced nuclear fuel cycles are being studied worldwide. They aim at making more efficient use of the available resources, reducing the risk of proliferation of nuclear weapons, and facilitating the management of the resulting radioactive waste. Recently, the Red-Impact project has investigated the impact of a number of representative advanced fuel cycles on radioactive waste management, and more specific on geological disposal. The thermal output of the high-level waste arising from advanced fuel cycles in which all the actinides are recycled is reduced with a factor 3 for a 50 years cooling time and with a factor 5 for a 100 years cooling time in comparison with the spent fuel arising from the once-through fuel cycle. This reduction of the thermal output allows for a significant reduction of the length of the disposal galleries and of the size of the repository. Separation of Cs and Sr drastically reduces further the thermal output of the high-level waste, but it requires a long-term management of those heat generating separated waste streams, which contain the very long-lived 135Cs. Recycling all the actinides strongly reduces the radiotoxicity in the waste, resulting in significantly lower doses to an intruder in the case of a human intrusion into the repository. However, the reduction of radiotoxicity has little impact on the main safety indicator of a geological repository, i.e. the effective dose in the case of the expected evolution scenario; for disposal in clay formations, this dose is essentially due to mobile fission and activation products. The deployment of advanced fuel cycles will necessitate the development of low activation materials for the new nuclear facilities and fuels and of specific waste matrices to condition the high-level and medium-level waste streams that will arise from the advanced reprocessing plants.

scholarly journals Comparison of selected foreign plans and practices for spent fuel and high-level waste management

1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.J. Schneider ◽  
S.J. Mitchell ◽  
L.T. Lakey ◽  
A.B. Jr. Johnson ◽  
R.F. Hazelton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
High Level Waste ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
High Level
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