Euradwaste '08 - EU Bookshop - Europa

cask, emplacement device and borehole lock) were delivered to the test site between April and June
2008. After the individual components had been accepted on site (SAT), the demonstration programme
- performed in two shifts - was started and will last until the end of 2008. The intention is
to prove the reliability of the emplacement system by means of a large number of demonstration
tests (approx. 500) and to draw conclusions and give recommendations for the industrial application
in a real repository.
4. French concept for the disposal of heat-generating waste
4.1 Characteristics of waste canisters in France
The C type package (vitrified waste) consists of a primary package, the well known Cogema CSD-
V, contained in what is called an overpack, i.e. a second envelope of 55-mm-thick carbon steel. It is
equipped with 12 ceramic sliding runners (6 mounted at each end) which reduce the friction force
exerted (when the canister is pushed inside the cell lining) and at a later stage prevent corrosion
sticking (between the outside wall of the canister and the inside wall of the liner), and which are to
facilitate any future retrieval operations.
The C type canister weighs approximately 2 tons at a length of 1.6 m and an outer diameter of about
60 cm. (Size & weight of the canisters may vary, according to the variety of C type canisters produced).
There are various existing scenarios concerning the production of C type canisters. It is envisaged
to store between 30 000 & 50 000 of them.
4.2 Approach for developing the Pushing Robot emplacement technology
Within the frame of the European IP ESDRED project, a research & development programme was
launched in order to design, manufacture and test the necessary technical components for the transport
and emplacement of C type canisters into horizontal disposal cells in Argillite. The main objective
was to develop a system for demonstrating the functionality and reliability of a suitable emplacement
technology, called the Pushing Robot. In addition, the results of the tests and investigations
should later provide to the Public at large valuable information on practical, down-to-earth
operations likely to be encountered in the future industrial storage. After testing, the demonstration
model is to be moved and re-erected in the CTe (ANDRA’s technological show-room, now in construction
in Saudron, near the Bure site).
The following objectives for the Pushing Robot research and development project were set:
to develop and test the emplacement technology for the Pushing Robot on a 1:1 scale,
to prove the technical feasibility of constructing the entire emplacement system for the C type
canisters and the single components,
to investigate the robustness of the emplacement system,
to present the Pushing Robot Demonstrator at work in the CTe in spring 2009.
The emplacement system comprises a transfer cask, which provides appropriate shielding during
the transport and emplacement process, a transport unit consisting of a shuttle with hydraulic motor,
a docking table for connecting the transfer cask to the cell mouth, and finally, a Pushing Robot to
move the canister into the disposal cell. Figure 6 shows the components of the entire transport and
emplacement system in an underground emplacement drift mock-up.
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