Site Decommissioning of AECL Whiteshell Laboratories

2004 ◽  
Vol 824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant W. Koroll
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Nuclear Research ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Nuclear Facilities ◽  
Safety Research ◽  
Nuclear Installation ◽  
Underground Research Laboratory ◽  
Nuclear Fuel Waste

AbstractAECL Whiteshell Laboratories (WL), near Winnipeg, Canada has been in operation since the early 1960s. R&D programs carried out at WL include a 60 MW organic-cooled research reactor, which operated from 1965 to 1985, reactor safety research, small reactor development, materials science, post irradiation examinations, chemistry, biophysics and radiation applications. The Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Program was conducted and continues to operate at WL and also at the nearby Underground Research Laboratory.In the late-1990s, AECL began to consolidate research and development activities at its Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) and began preparations for decommissioning WL. Preparations for decommissioning included a staged shutdown of operations, planning documentation and licensing for decommissioning. As a prerequisite to AECL's application for a decommissioning licence, an environmental assessment (EA) was carried out according to Canadian environmental assessment legislation. The EA concluded in 2002 April when the Federal Environment Minister published his decision that WL decommissioning was not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects and that no further assessment by a review panel or mediation would be requiredIn 2002 December, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission issued a decommissioning licence for WL, valid until December 31, 2008. The licence authorized the first planned phase of site decommissioning as well as the continuation of selected research programs. The six-year licence for Whiteshell Laboratories was the first overall decommissioning license issued for a Canadian Nuclear Research and Test Establishment and was the longest licence term ever granted for a nuclear installation of this complexity in Canada.The first phase of decommissioning is now underway and focuses on decontamination and modifications to nuclear facilities, such as the shielded facilities, the main R&D laboratories and the associated service systems, to achieve a safe state of storage-with-surveillance. Later phases have planned waste management improvements for selected wastes already in storage, eventually followed by final decommissioning of facilities and infrastructure and removal of most wastes from the site.This paper provides an overview of the planning, environmental assessment, licensing, and organizational processes for decommissioning and selected descriptions of decommissioning activities currently underway at AECL Whiteshell Laboratories.

Decommissioning AECL Whiteshell Laboratories

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Koroll ◽  
M. A. Ryz ◽  
J. W. Harding ◽  
W. R. Ridgway ◽  
M. J. Rhodes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Nuclear Research ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Nuclear Facilities ◽  
Safety Research ◽  
Nuclear Installation ◽  
Underground Research Laboratory ◽  
Nuclear Fuel Waste

AECL operates two nuclear R&D laboratories in Canada, Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) near Ottawa, Ontario, and Whiteshell Laboratories (WL), near Winnipeg, Manitoba. Whiteshell Laboratories have been in operation since about 1965. R&D programs carried out at WL included the WR-1 research reactor, which operated from 1965 to 1985, reactor safety research, small reactor development, materials science, post irradiation examination, chemistry, biophysics and radiation applications. The Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Program was conducted and continues to operate at WL and also at the nearby Underground Research Laboratory. In the late-1990s, AECL began to consolidate research and development activities at CRL and initiated preparations for decommissioning WL. Preparations for decommissioning included a formal environmental assessment under Canadian environmental assessment legislation, a prerequisite to AECL’s application for a decommissioning licence. In 2002 December, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission issued a decommissioning licence for WL, valid until December 31, 2008. The licence authorizes the first planned phase of site decommissioning as well as the continuation of selected research programs. The six-year licence for Whiteshell Laboratories is the first overall decommissioning license issued for a Canadian Nuclear Research and Test Establishment and is the longest licence term ever granted for a nuclear installation of this complexity in Canada. The first phase of decommissioning is now underway and focuses on decontamination and modifications to nuclear facilities, such as the shielded facilities, the main R&D laboratories and the associated service systems, to achieve a safe state of storage-with-surveillance. Later phases have planned waste management improvements for selected wastes already in storage, eventually followed by final decommissioning of facilities and infrastructure and removal of most wastes from the site. This paper provides an overview of the planning, environmental assessment, licensing, and organizational processes for decommissioning and selected descriptions of decommissioning activities currently underway at AECL Whiteshell Laboratories.

Decommissioning of AECL Whiteshell Laboratories

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant W. Koroll ◽  
Dennis M. Bilinsky ◽  
Randall S. Swartz ◽  
Jeff W. Harding ◽  
Michael J. Rhodes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Research Reactor ◽  
Nuclear Research ◽  
Nuclear Facilities ◽  
Safety Research ◽  
Final Design ◽  
The Government ◽  
Government Of Canada ◽  
High Level ◽  
Waste Handling

Whiteshell Laboratories (WL) is a Nuclear Research and Test Establishment near Winnipeg, Canada, operated by AECL since the early 1960s and now under decommissioning. WL occupies approximately 4400 hectares of land and employed more than 1000 staff up to the late-1990s, when the closure decision was made. Nuclear facilities at WL included a research reactor, hot cell facilities and radiochemical laboratories. Programs carried out at the WL site included high level nuclear fuel waste management research, reactor safety research, nuclear materials research, accelerator technology, biophysics, and industrial radiation applications. In preparation for decommissioning, a comprehensive environmental assessment was successfully completed [1] and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission issued a six-year decommissioning licence for WL starting in 2003 — the first decommissioning licence issued for a Nuclear Research and Test Establishment in Canada. This paper describes the progress in this first six-year licence period. A significant development in 2006 was the establishment of the Nuclear Legacy Liabilities Program (NLLP), by the Government of Canada, to safely and cost effectively reduce, and eventually eliminate the nuclear legacy liabilities and associated risks, using sound waste management and environmental principles. The NLLP endorsed an accelerated approach to WL Decommissioning, which meant advancing the full decommissioning of buildings and facilities that had originally been planned to be decontaminated and prepared for storage-with-surveillance. As well the NLLP endorsed the construction of enabling facilities — facilities that employ modern waste handling and storage technology on a scale needed for full decommissioning of the large radiochemical laboratories and other nuclear facilities. The decommissioning work and the design and construction of enabling facilities are fully underway. Several redundant non-nuclear buildings have been removed and redundant nuclear facilities are being decontaminated and prepared for demolition. Along with decommissioning of redundant structures, site utilities are being decommissioned and reconfigured to reduce site operating costs. New waste handling and waste clearance facilities have been commissioned and a large shielded modular above ground storage (SMAGS) structure is in final design in preparation for construction in 2010. The eventual goal is full decommissioning of all facilities and infrastructure and removal of stored wastes from the site.

Radioactive Waste Management Challenges and Progress in Iraq

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fouad Al-Musawi ◽  
Emad S. Shamsaldin ◽  
John R. Cochran
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Nuclear Research ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Nuclear Facilities ◽  
Radioactive Waste Management ◽  
The Government ◽  
Key Sites ◽  
Radioactive Waste Treatment

The government of Iraq, through the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) is decommissioning Iraq’s former nuclear facilities. The 18 former facilities at the Al-Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center near Baghdad include partially destroyed research reactors, a fuel fabrication facility and radioisotope production facilities. These 18 former facilities contain large numbers of silos and drums of uncharacterized radioactive waste and approximately 30 tanks that contain or did contain uncharacterized liquid radioactive wastes. Other key sites outside of Al Tuwaitha include facilities at Jesira (uranium processing and waste storage facility), Rashdiya (centrifuge facility) and Tarmiya (enrichment plant). The newly created Radioactive Waste Treatment Management Directorate (RWTMD) within MoST is responsible for Iraq’s centralized management of radioactive waste, including safe and secure disposal. In addition to being responsible for the uncharacterized wastes at Al Tuwaitha, the RWTMD will be responsible for future decommissioning wastes, approximately 900 disused sealed radioactive sources, and unknown quantities of NORM wastes from oil production in Iraq. This paper presents the challenges and progress that the RWTMD has made in setting-up a radioactive waste management program. The progress includes the establishment of a staffing structure, staff, participation in international training, rehabilitation of portions of the former Radioactive Waste Treatment Station at Al-Tuwaitha and the acquisition of equipment.

The Inpluence of Borehole Flushing on the Concentration of Microbes in Granitic Groundwaters.

1993 ◽  
Vol 333 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Stroes-Gascoyne ◽  
M. Gascoyne ◽  
C.J. Hamon ◽  
D. Jain ◽  
P. Vilks
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Zone ◽  
Research Laboratory ◽  
Microbial Growth ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Particle Count ◽  
Tenfold Increase ◽  
Total Particle ◽  
Underground Research Laboratory ◽  
Nuclear Fuel Waste

ABSTRACTA number of groundvater parameters have been studied at AECL’s Underground Research Laboratory (URL) in support of the Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Program. The concentration of microbes in groundvater is of interest as they may modify the transport of dissolved radionuclides. Preliminary results from an earlier study suggested that the microbe concentrations may be affected by the extent of borehole flushing prior to sampling. A study was therefore carried out in which packer-isolated intervals of two boreholes intersecting a fracture zone at 250-m depth in the URL were flushed and sampled on two occasions at various flow rates. High initial microbial concentrations (most likely due to leaching of nutrients from sample tubes) decreased rapidly as flushing progressed, suggesting enhanced microbial growth near the top of the borehole zone. Also, a tenfold increase in flow rate during flushing caused an increase in microbial concentrations in the groundwater of one of the boreholes, concurrent with an increase in total particle count. This suggests that particulate and biofilm material may be flushed out of the fracture zone at this particular location.

A Review of Progress in the Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Program

1985 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. B. Lyon ◽  
L. H. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Selection Methods ◽  
Transportation Fuel ◽  
Waste Immobilization ◽  
Fuel Storage ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Nuclear Fuel Waste ◽  
Made In

AbstractThe Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Program is reviewed, illustrating the progress that has been made in assessing the concept of disposal of nuclear fuel waste in plutonic rock of the Canadian Shield. Research is being conducted into used fuel storage and transportation, fuel waste immobilization, site characterization and selection methods, and performance assessment modelling. Details of achievements in these areas are outlined, and results of the most recent interim assessment are discussed.

scholarly journals Microbial studies in the Canadian nuclear fuel waste management program

1997 ◽  
Vol 20 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 573-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simcha Stroes-Gascoyne ◽  
Julia M. West
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Nuclear Fuel Waste
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