DIAMOND: Decommissioning, Immobilisation And Management Of Nuclear wastes for Disposal
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Inst of Particle Science & Engineering
Abstract
Legacy waste treatment and disposal, as well as decommissioning and site remediation, from the last 60 years of the UK's civil nuclear program are conservatively estimated at a cost of 70B for the UK taxpayer. The diversity of issues that must be addressed in tackling this problem is immense and requires a wide range of innovative solutions drawn from an equally wide range of technology discipline areas. The proposed research program is divided into three work packages (WPs): (1) Environment, Migration and Risk; (2) Decommissioning, the Historic Legacy and Site Termination; and (3) Materials - Design, Development and Performance.WP 1: Environment, Migration and RiskCleaning up contaminated land is a substantial component of nuclear site restoration. The range of radioactive contaminants present, and the potential for mixed contamination, represents a major challenge. In particular, the potential for migration of soluble and colloidal species in the subsurface is a key uncertainty in defining site end points. Currently, most cleanup is expected to be through invasive technologies; hence, we will explore more cost-effective in situ technologies such as barrier treatment systems. Many of the uncertainties and technical challenges associated with geological disposal of immobilised radioactive wastes are critically dependent on the rate of release from the engineered facility, and on the subsequent behaviour of the radionuclides in the disturbed zone and the far field. Work Package 2: Decommissioning, the Historic Legacy and Site TerminationHeterogeneous wastes present in fuel storage and handling facilities are a key target of the consortium. These wastes comprise irradiated fuel, contaminated materials and corrosion products. Total volumes and compositions (both chemical and radioactive) are poorly known, although there are believed to be several hundred m3 in each of the main storage ponds. Improved and accurate characterisation is therefore a priority, and novel technologies for retrieval and treatment are proposed here. In addition, historical activities have created small volumes of orphan wastes for which no clear management route exists; their diversity requires new and versatile treatment methods which will be developed in this programme. We also focus on the quantification of radionuclide inventories, contaminant transport through engineered pathways and waste retrieval as areas where we can make a further contribution.Work Package 3: Materials- Design, Development and PerformanceGeological disposal has been accepted by Government as the best available approach for the long term management of UK radioactive wastes, supported by a robust programme of interim storage . The focus of research in this WP is therefore to address key knowledge gaps in the conditioning, storage and disposal of wastes in order to underpin future decision making in waste management. Research is based on three key themes, aimed at: 1) understanding the effects of radiation and radiolysis on the stability of nuclear ceramics during interim storage; 2) understanding the corrosion mechanisms of spent nuclear fuels, steel packaging and HLW glasses under conditions of storage and disposal; 3) development of new materials and processing routes with the flexibility to immobilise a spectrum of wastes, including fuel debris and graphite, in a form suitable for storage and disposal. A further aspect of this WP will be development of new synthetic routes to advanced inert matrix fuels.
Organisations
Publications
Holdich R
(2013)
Continuous Membrane Emulsification with Pulsed (Oscillatory) Flow
in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Young A
(2013)
Behaviour of radionuclides in the presence of superplasticiser
in Advances in Cement Research
Hunter T
(2013)
The influence of system scale on impinging jet sediment erosion: Observed using novel and standard measurement techniques
in Chemical Engineering Research and Design
Mulroue J
(2013)
Charge localization on the hexa-interstitial cluster in MgO.
in Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal
Kuenzel C
(2013)
Production of nepheline/quartz ceramics from geopolymer mortars
in Journal of the European Ceramic Society
Zhang T
(2014)
Formation of magnesium silicate hydrate (M-S-H) cement pastes using sodium hexametaphosphate
in Cement and Concrete Research
Thorpe C
(2014)
The interactions of strontium and technetium with Fe(II) bearing biominerals: Implications for bioremediation of radioactively contaminated land
in Applied Geochemistry
Rice HP
(2014)
Measuring particle concentration in multiphase pipe flow using acoustic backscatter: generalization of the dual-frequency inversion method.
in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Kuenzel C
(2015)
Encapsulation of Cs/Sr contaminated clinoptilolite in geopolymers produced from metakaolin
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Rice H
(2015)
Constraints on the functional form of the critical deposition velocity in solid-liquid pipe flow at low solid volume fractions
in Chemical Engineering Science
Zou B
(2015)
Effects of velocity and concentration on diffusive transport in low permeability geological systems
in Applied Geochemistry
Rice H
(2015)
Measurement of particle concentration in horizontal, multiphase pipe flow using acoustic methods: Limiting concentration and the effect of attenuation
in Chemical Engineering Science
Zhang T
(2016)
Control of drying shrinkage in magnesium silicate hydrate (m-s-h) gel mortars
in Cement and Concrete Research
Ohe T
(2018)
Adsorption and diffusion of strontium in simulated rock fractures quantified via ion beam analysis
in Mineralogical Magazine
Hallam R
(2018)
Sorption of Tc(IV) to some geological materials with reference to radioactive waste disposal
in Mineralogical Magazine
Van Veelen A
(2018)
Uranium uptake onto Magnox sludge minerals studied using EXAFS
in Mineralogical Magazine
Stockdale A
(2018)
Uranyl binding to humic acid under conditions relevant to cementitious geological disposal of radioactive wastes
in Mineralogical Magazine