The 12th International Conference on Environmental ... - Events

Abstracts Session 52-54
reflects evolving technology. <strong>The</strong>se coupled development tasks were, in the past, carried out by expert teams in a rather informal
manner. As the technical challenges increase and the need for transparency is accepted — a more formal method of developing
innovative design solutions is needed. A knowledge engineering approach that is used in other financial and industrial applications
has thus been tested for its usefulness for such tasks.
5) OVERVIEW OF THE JAEA KMS (KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM) SUPPORTING
IMPLEMENTATION AND REGULATION OF GEOLOGICAL DISPOSAL IN JAPAN - 16354
Hiroyuki Umeki, Kazumasa Hioki, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (Japan);
Hiroyasu Takase, Quintessa Japan (Japan); Ian McKinley, McKinley Consulting (Switzerland)
<strong>The</strong> exponential growth in the knowledge base for radioactive waste management is a cause for concern in many national programmes.
In Japan, this problem is exacerbated by a volunteering approach to siting of a deep geological repository, which requires
particular flexibility in the tailoring of site characterisation plans, repository concepts and associated performance assessments.
Recognition of this situation led, in 2005, to initiation by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) of an ambitious project to develop
an advanced Knowledge Management System (KMS) aimed to facilitate its role as the supplier of background R&D support to
both regulators and implementers of geological disposal. This overview outlines the boundary conditions and milestones for the
Japanese radioactive waste management programmes, the roles of key organisations and the particular responsibilities of JAEA that
led to definition of the goals of the KMS.
SESSION 53 - PANEL: FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
ABSTRACTS NOT REQUIRED
SESSION 54 - D&D TECHNOLOGIES - PART 2 OF 2
1) ADVANCED RADIOACTIVE SOIL SCREENING AND SORTING TECHNOLOGY - 16283
Jeffrey W. Lively, Michael R. Marcial, MACTEC (USA); Mark Liddiard, Worley Parsons (UK);
Javid Kelley, MACTEC (USA); Joseph Toole, Worley Parsons (UK)
Nuclear sites undergoing decommissioning typically have large volumes of soil which are heterogeneously contaminated by
radioactivity from historic operations. <strong>The</strong>re is a severe shortage of available disposal space for this type of material in the United
Kingdom (UK) and worldwide. It is, therefore, important that volumes being disposed are minimised as far as possible to ensure
efficient use of scarcely available radioactive waste disposal facilities. <strong>The</strong>re are also significant cost savings to be realised from
segregating clean and exempt material from material classified as low-level (radioactive) waste (LLW) for disposal in other (nonradioactive)
facilities or preferably for recycling onsite as part of the site closure process.
<strong>The</strong> use of a proven dynamic measurement and soil sorting technology has the potential to speed up site closure, reduce LLW
volumes, and save the decommissioning programmes significant costs. Conveyor-based, radiological soil measurement systems
developed have been used to process bulk soils with the potential to be contaminated with radioactivity, segregating soils that
exceed the accepted regulatory limits from those that could be reused onsite or otherwise disposed in non-radioactive disposal facilities.
This paper will describe the operation and advanced capabilities of MACTEC’s state-of-the-science bulk soil survey and sorting
system developed and successfully used in the USA to minimize radioactive soil waste volumes.
2) FLUORESCENCE SPECTRAL IMAGING AS A TOOL FOR LOCATING
URANIUM DEPOSITED ON SURFACES - 16089
David L. Monts, Institute for Clean Energy Technology (ICET)(USA);
Guangjun Wang, Yi Su, Ping-Rey Jang, Charles A. Waggoner, ICET (USA)
In the environment, metallic uranium readily oxidizes to form uranium compounds that contain the uranyl (UO +2
2 ) moiety. For
more than a hundred and fifty years, it has been known that when illuminated with ultraviolet (UV) light, uranyl compounds exhibit
characteristic fluorescence in the visible region (450-650 nm). We report our efforts to develop a transportable, quantitative Fluorescence
Spectral Imaging (FSI) system as a tool for locating and quantifying uranyl compounds dispersed in soils and on other
surfaces. A project is underway to develop a set of sensors to locate expended depleted uranium (DU) rounds and to process soil
and debris to recover the material from domestic firing ranges. <strong>The</strong> FSI system can also be utilized to monitor excavation of DU
munitions and separation of uranyl compounds from soils. FSI images are acquired by illuminating a surface with a UV light and
using a narrow bandpass filter on a camera, recording an image of the resulting fluorescence. <strong>The</strong> FSI image provides both spatial
and spectral information. <strong>The</strong> FSI system is described and its performance characterized using field samples.
3) SURFACE DECONTAMINATION BY PHOTOCATALYSIS - 16068
R. J. Wilbraham, C. Boxall, Lancaster University (UK): R. J. Taylor, National Nuclear Laboratory (UK)
Currently in the nuclear industry, surface contamination in the form of radioactive metal or metal oxide deposits is most commonly
removed by chemical decontamination, electrochemical decontamination or physical attrition. Physical attrition techniques
are generally used on structural materials (concrete, plaster), with (electro)chemical methods being used to decontaminate metallic
or painted surfaces. <strong>The</strong> most common types of (electro)chemical decontamination are the use of simple mineral acids such as nitric
acid or cerium (IV) oxidation (MEDOC). Use of both of these reagents frequently results in the dissolution of a layer of the substrate
surface increasing the percentage of secondary waste which leads to burdens on downstream effluent treatment and waste
management plants. In this context, both mineral acids and MEDOC can be indiscriminate in the surfaces attacked during deployment,
e.g. attacking in transit through a pipe system to the site of contamination resulting in both diminished effect of the decontaminating
reagent upon arrival at its target site and an increased secondary waste management requirement. This provides two main
requirements for a more ideal decontamination reagent: Improved area specificity and a dissolution power equal to or greater than
the previously mentioned current decontaminants.
Photochemically promoted processes may provide such a decontamination technique.
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