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

Abstracts Session 56-57
2) A TRULY INDUSTRIAL SOLUTION FOR THE ELIMINATION OF RADIOACTIVE
CONTAMINATED OILS OR SOLVENTS - 16232
Albert Jacobs, William Everett, Dewdrops (UK)
Dewdrops has developed and tested in a fully operational pilot plant a biological process capable of eliminating a wide range
of mixtures of radioactive oils and solvents. Together with a volume reduction factor of at least 20 times, the process combines reliability
and versatility with a minimal environmental footprint. <strong>The</strong> nominal capacity of the standard mobile plant is 100 litres per
day with the actual production depending on the exact nature of the liquid to be treated. This paper will outline the main features
of the technology then concentrate on the validation tests designed to demonstrate the feasibility for any particular site, waste stream
or arising.
<strong>The</strong> DEWDROPS patented process exploits bacterial metabolisms which use oils or solvents as their vital carbon source. Carefully
selected microorganisms oxidize organic compounds to produce carbon dioxide, water and biomass. <strong>The</strong> biomass is partially
recycled in the system and the excess is eliminated at the end of the process while the water and carbon dioxide can be released to
the environment. <strong>The</strong> ultimate waste is a dry inert inorganic powder.
<strong>The</strong> originality of our process lies in the use of several specialized bacterial populations each with a different task. Crossflow
filters separate each stage maintaining bacterial population specificity and ensuring a micro-organism free outflow with a COD
(chemical oxygen demand) < 150 mg/l in complete conformance with the usual European waste water standards. Separate tests
have shown that our micro-organisms can handle radioactivity levels of at least 30 MBq/litre in the incoming oils / solvent mixtures
but the theoretical limit is much higher.
SESSION 57 - D&D OF NON-REACTOR NUCLEAR FACILITIES
1) PROGRESS AND EXPERIENCES FROM THE DECOMMISSIONING
OF THE EUROCHEMIC REPROCESSING PLANT - 16022
Robert Walthery, Wim Van Laer, Patrick Lewandowski, Nancy Reusen, Bart Ooms, Belgoprocess (Belgium)
Belgoprocess started the industrial decommissioning of the main process building of the former EUROCHEMIC reprocessing
plant in 1990, after completion of a pilot project in which two buildings were emptied and decontaminated to background levels.
<strong>The</strong> remaining structures were demolished and the concrete debris was disposed of as industrial waste and green field conditions
restored.
<strong>The</strong> Eurochemic reprocessing plant operated from 1966 to 1974 to process fuel from power reactors and research reactors. <strong>The</strong>
main building is a large concrete structure, comprising a surface area of 55,000 m², concrete volume 12,500 m³, and 1,500 Mg of
metal components. <strong>The</strong> building is divided into multiple cells. About 106 individual cell structures have to be dismantled, involving
the removal and decontamination of equipment from each cell, the decontamination of the cell walls, ceilings and floors, the
dismantling of the ventilation system.
Most of the work involves hands-on operations under protective clothing tailored to each specific task. Tool automation and
automatic positioning systems are successfully applied.
In view of the final demolition of the main process building, the main process building has been
2) DECOMMISSIONING OF BUILDINGS 105X AND 122X AT BELGOPROCESS - 16052
Bart Ooms, Robert Walthery, Bert Lievens, Wim Van Laer, Belgoprocess (Belgium)
<strong>The</strong> Eurochemic reprocessing plant was built between 1960 and 1966 and operated from 1966 until the end of 1974. During
these eight years of active operation, Eurochemic reprocessed 181.5 t of natural and slightly enriched uranium fuels (less than 4.5%
initial 235U enrichment) from various experimental and power reactors, and 30.6 t high enriched uranium fuels from testing reactors,
generating approximately 50 m³ of high-level liquid waste from power reactor fuels (LEWC, low enriched waste concentrate)
and 850 m³ from research reactor fuels (HEWC, high enriched waste concentrate). As a result of reprocessing and cleaning operations
(1975-1981), generated intermediate and high level wastes were put into temporary storage, pending the availability of appropriate
treatment, conditioning and storage facilities.
Immediately after LEWC and HEWC vitrification, the corresponding storage vessels were rinsed and decontaminated. <strong>The</strong>
rinsing and decontamination program started in April 1986 and was interrupted between September 1987 and July 1989 in view of
possibly reusing the vessels for storage of similar HLLW solutions. Because the storage building itself was not aircraft crash resistant,
it was decided not to use the storage vessels anymore and to proceed the decontamination with more aggressive chemicals. Due
to this time gap however, and especially because vitrification came to an end in September 1991, a considerable volume of decontamination
liquids was produced after this time and stored, pending the availability of the bituminization installation.
3) CLEANSING AND DISMANTLING OF CEA-SACLAY NUCLEAR LICENSED FACILITIES - 16047
Michel Jeanjacques, Rebecca Glévarec, Isabelle Tirel, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (France)
This summary presents the cleansing and dismantling operations currently realized on the CEA center of Saclay (CEA-Saclay).
It was initiated at the beginning of the 2000 years a cleansing and dismantling program of the old Nuclear Licensed Facilities
(NLF). Currently this program relates to the Hot Laboratories (Laboratoires de Haute Activité : LHA) and the old workshops of the
Liquid Waste Treatment Plant (Station des Effluents Liquides : STEL).
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