Euradwaste '08 - EU Bookshop - Europa
Euradwaste '08 - EU Bookshop - Europa Euradwaste '08 - EU Bookshop - Europa
measurements of actinides to determine their properties and behaviour,’ he said, noting that advantages had been found to using aluminium in pyro-processing of metallic fuels. Future efforts in this field, Mr Glatz said, require the installation of large-scale facilities for reprocessing demonstrations. Mr Glatz spoke about the contributions of FP7 efforts such as the projects ACTINET-I3 (currently being negotiated and a follow-up to an existing network of excellence) and ACSEPT, which must all be seen in the context of the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform. Dr Dankward Struwe of Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) in Germany presented the state of transmutation activities in Europe. ‘As a result of the European research effort around the EURO- TRANS project,’ he said, ‘first answers to the most relevant open questions of new design solutions of plants meeting requests for optimal transmutation will be obtained. Now, the main interest is to demonstrate the feasibility of this system using our current knowledge base.’ Mr González Romero explained how studies of transmutation, which seek to reduce long-lived radioactive isotopes to short-lived or even stable ones, ‘highlight the importance of detailed planning to achieve the best results of advanced facility utilisation’. The main difficulty, he said, is that the cost of technological development and facility deployment is very high, and it can be difficult to justify because it won’t necessarily be used for very long. As more is learned, new facilities will eventually need to be designed and deployed. P&T and geological disposal The sciences of partitioning and transmutation are largely in harmony with the goals of geological disposal, and the presentations showed that much has been achieved in recent years. Specialists in the two areas pointed to politics as having played a role in inciting rivalry between the communities, and stated unequivocally that research and development efforts in P&T should remain ongoing but should not delay implementation of geological disposal. ‘We are not two scientific communities that are in confrontation (although we are chasing the same funding),’ said Dr Jordi Bruno of Amphos 21 in Spain, ‘but politicians are using P&T to drag their feet, and they will take a lifetime to make up their minds.’ Mr Philippe Lalieux of ONDRAF/NIRAS in Belgium added, ‘It is important to balance the role of P&T and to avoid delaying disposal-related decisions.’ Mr Gianluca Benamati, a member of the Italian Parliament, shared his perspective on communicating the benefits of P&T in the management of nuclear waste. ‘Information about nuclear waste management is most trusted when it comes from independent sources, notably scientists (41 %) and NGOs (38 %),’ he said, referring to results of the recent Eurobarometer survey. ‘In Italy, the public would see geological disposal differently if we had treatment beforehand to decrease the radioactivity.’ Mr González Romero of CIEMAT emphasised the need to consult the public when developing waste-management policies that incorporate P&T, saying, ‘We are working here to develop technological options. But each country has to consider its own constraints to deployment, including policy. Public acceptance requires the participation of all stakeholders in decision-making.’ Mr Bernard Boullis of CEA in Saclay, France, said, ‘The back-end of the fuel cycle must be considered soon enough to avoid possibly huge stockpiles of spent fuel.’ 8
‘P&T offers a number of very interesting perspectives for waste management of future fuel cycles,’ said Mr Jan Marivoet of SCK-CEN in Belgium. ‘The interaction between materials engineers and waste management organisations is highly desirable.’ Geological disposal The European Commission’s framework programmes encourage implementation-oriented research in the area of geological disposal of radioactive waste. Since 1990 there have been many EU projects focussed on the ‘near field’ and related basic processes, especially the behaviour of engineered barrier systems. The NF-PRO integrated project, funded under FP6, sought to integrate European research on the near-field processes, including the waste matrix, the canister, the man-made barriers and the surrounding host rock. Mr Lawrence Johnson of Nagra in Switzerland reviewed this and other integrated projects, noting achievements and areas for further study. NF-PRO, he said, ‘improved process understanding, enhanced collaboration between specialists across national programmes, improved communication between performance assessment specialists and those seeking deeper process understanding, and helped identify key areas for future R&D’. He stressed, however, that joint efforts between individual national programmes and the larger research community are necessary for a complete synthesis of the issues. ‘A future project that attempts to provide a synthesis of all information into improved models would be valuable. It should consider as wide a spectrum of studies as possible, including continuing results from ongoing largescale experiments.’ Dr David Savage of Quintessa in the UK also spoke about NF-PRO and engineered barrier systems. In terms of modelling and integration of the data, Dr Savage said that ‘work so far has barely touched the surface’ on experimental data that could be modelled. ‘We have a whole raft of data now to test our models against,’ he explained. ‘I want to emphasise that we need to look at the engineered barrier system evolution on different physical and temporal scales. The data from the lab and in situ experiments need to be placed in context with those from natural systems. It is unrewarding to have separate programmes for experimental and natural analogue studies,’ Mr Savage concluded. Mr Karel Lemmens of SCK-CEN in Belgium presented some insights from the NF-PRO project and of the MICADO project, which focused on the modelling of spent fuel dissolution. His presentation on the performance of the waste matrix clearly imparted some valuable insights to specialists in other scientific areas. The far field Mr Gunnar Buckau of Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) in Germany remarked that in terms of far-field studies, ‘There are no “show-stoppers”, or generic issues in the pipeline.’ One thing that might be needed, he said, is to determine long-term changes in far-field properties that result from anthropogenic influences or natural cycles such as deep permafrost, salination or melt-water intrusion. It would be wise to determine the impact of such changes on the concerned minerals and retention processes. 9
- Page 2 and 3: Interested in European research? Re
- Page 4 and 5: LEGAL NOTICE Neither the European C
- Page 7 and 8: TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD iii CONF
- Page 9 and 10: “Impact of advanced fuel cycle sc
- Page 11 and 12: “Sensitivity analysis techniques
- Page 13 and 14: Topic: Support actions SAPIERR-II -
- Page 15: CONFERENCE SUMMARIES
- Page 18 and 19: supported. The Commission believes
- Page 20 and 21: Ms Monika Hammarström of SKB in Sw
- Page 22 and 23: Dr Bruno of Amphos 21 urged the swi
- Page 26 and 27: Dr Peter Blümling of Nagra in Swit
- Page 28 and 29: Future directions There seemed to b
- Page 31 and 32: 1. Introduction Keynote Address Pet
- Page 33 and 34: tive waste management, a considerab
- Page 35 and 36: the decision making process. The se
- Page 37: All initiatives leading to encourag
- Page 40 and 41: tegrating them as part of advanced
- Page 43: General introduction and objectives
- Page 47 and 48: Radioactive waste management: Where
- Page 49 and 50: The intense development in nuclear
- Page 51 and 52: Figure 3: Schematic diagram of the
- Page 53 and 54: contributed to enhance knowledge ab
- Page 55 and 56: the first time in French history, a
- Page 57 and 58: PANEL DISCUSSION Summary of the Pan
- Page 59: With the support of IAEA preliminar
- Page 63 and 64: Assessment of Financial Provisions
- Page 65 and 66: collected in the cost of the nuclea
- Page 67 and 68: erated by Fortum) and one PWR unit
- Page 69 and 70: pected. As to tunnel backfilling, t
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‘P&T offers a number of very interesting perspectives for waste management of future fuel cycles,’<br />
said Mr Jan Marivoet of SCK-CEN in Belgium. ‘The interaction between materials engineers and<br />
waste management organisations is highly desirable.’<br />
Geological disposal<br />
The European Commission’s framework programmes encourage implementation-oriented research<br />
in the area of geological disposal of radioactive waste. Since 1990 there have been many <strong>EU</strong> projects<br />
focussed on the ‘near field’ and related basic processes, especially the behaviour of engineered<br />
barrier systems.<br />
The NF-PRO integrated project, funded under FP6, sought to integrate European research on the<br />
near-field processes, including the waste matrix, the canister, the man-made barriers and the surrounding<br />
host rock. Mr Lawrence Johnson of Nagra in Switzerland reviewed this and other integrated<br />
projects, noting achievements and areas for further study. NF-PRO, he said, ‘improved process<br />
understanding, enhanced collaboration between specialists across national programmes, improved<br />
communication between performance assessment specialists and those seeking deeper process<br />
understanding, and helped identify key areas for future R&D’.<br />
He stressed, however, that joint efforts between individual national programmes and the larger research<br />
community are necessary for a complete synthesis of the issues. ‘A future project that attempts<br />
to provide a synthesis of all information into improved models would be valuable. It should<br />
consider as wide a spectrum of studies as possible, including continuing results from ongoing largescale<br />
experiments.’<br />
Dr David Savage of Quintessa in the UK also spoke about NF-PRO and engineered barrier systems.<br />
In terms of modelling and integration of the data, Dr Savage said that ‘work so far has barely<br />
touched the surface’ on experimental data that could be modelled. ‘We have a whole raft of data<br />
now to test our models against,’ he explained.<br />
‘I want to emphasise that we need to look at the engineered barrier system evolution on different<br />
physical and temporal scales. The data from the lab and in situ experiments need to be placed in<br />
context with those from natural systems. It is unrewarding to have separate programmes for experimental<br />
and natural analogue studies,’ Mr Savage concluded.<br />
Mr Karel Lemmens of SCK-CEN in Belgium presented some insights from the NF-PRO project<br />
and of the MICADO project, which focused on the modelling of spent fuel dissolution. His presentation<br />
on the performance of the waste matrix clearly imparted some valuable insights to specialists<br />
in other scientific areas.<br />
The far field<br />
Mr Gunnar Buckau of Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) in Germany remarked that in terms of<br />
far-field studies, ‘There are no “show-stoppers”, or generic issues in the pipeline.’ One thing that<br />
might be needed, he said, is to determine long-term changes in far-field properties that result from<br />
anthropogenic influences or natural cycles such as deep permafrost, salination or melt-water intrusion.<br />
It would be wise to determine the impact of such changes on the concerned minerals and retention<br />
processes.<br />
9
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