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

Session 59 Abstracts
6) A SYSTEMATIC PLANNING TOOL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISATION – 16010
Steven Wilcox, Richard I Wilkins, Martin R Lyons, AMEC (UK)
Many organisations are currently dealing with long standing legacy issues in clean up, decommissioning and demolition projects.
Industry is required to ensure that all bulk articles, substances and waste arisings are adequately characterised and assigned to
the correct disposal routes in compliance with UK legislation and best practice. It is essential that data used to support waste sentencing
is of the correct type, quality and quantity, and that it is appropriately assessed in order to support defensible, confident
decisions that account for inherent uncertainties. AMEC has adopted the Data Quality Objectives (DQO) based methodology and
the software package Visual Sample Plan (VSP) to provide a better, faster, and more cost effective approach to meeting regulatory
and client requirements, whilst minimising the time spent gathering data and assessing the information.
<strong>The</strong> DQO methodology is based on a scientific approach that requires clear objectives to be established from the outset of a
project and that there is a demonstration of acceptability of the results. Through systematic planning, the team develops acceptance
or performance criteria for the quality of the data collected and for the confidence in the final decision.
<strong>The</strong> systematic planning process promotes communication between all departments and individuals involved in the decisionmaking
process thus the planning phase gives an open and unambiguous method to support the decisions and enables the decisionmakers
(technical authorities on the materials of concern) to document all assumptions.
SESSION 59 - SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH L/ILW MANAGEMENT
1) DEVELOPMENT OF JOINT REGULATORY GUIDANCE ON THE MANAGEMENT OF HIGHER ACTIVITY
RADIOACTIVE WASTES ON NUCLEAR LICENSED SITES - 16095
Michael Bacon, Health and Safety Executive (UK); Doug Ilett,Environment Agency (UK); Andrew Whittall,
ScottishEnvironment Protection Agency (UK)
In 2006 the UK Governments response1 to recommendations by its Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM)
established, in England and Wales, that geological disposal, supported by safe and secure interim storage, is the preferred route for
the long-term management of higher-activity radioactive waste (i.e. that which is not suitable for near-surface disposal). It also gave
the responsibility for delivering the programme for a deep geological repository to the Nuclear decommissioning Authority (NDA).
<strong>The</strong> Scottish Government has a policy of long term, near site, near surface safe and secure interim storage.
To support the open and transparent approach promised by Government, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Environment
Agency and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) are developing joint guidance on the management of higher-activity
radioactive waste to explain regulatory objectives in securing safe and secure interim storage and the associated management
of radioactive wastes. <strong>The</strong> guidance comes in two parts:
• Guidance on the regulatory process
• Technical guidance modules
2) MONTE CARLO SIMULATION OF A COMPARTMENT MODEL OF RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
AT A RADIOACTIVE WASTE REPOSITORY - 16168
Enrico Zio, Francesco Cadini, Diana Avram, Tommaso Girotti, Politecnico (Italy);
Alfredo Luce, ENEA CR Saluggia (Italy); Alberto Taglioni, ENEA (Italy)
Prediction of radionuclides release is a central issue in the performance assessment of nuclear waste repositories. To this aim
a model of radionuclides migration through the repository barriers must be set up, accounting for the uncertainties affecting the
process. In this context, the present paper presents the application of Monte Carlo simulation to a Markovian modeling framework
proposed in the literature; two cases are presented to highlight the value added by the flexibility of the Monte Carlo simulation
approach migration, compartment model, Monte Carlo simulation.
3) PRELIMINARY WASTE ACCEPTANCE CRITERA FOR LILW REPOSITORY IN SLOVENIA - 16115
Nadja Zeleznik, ARAO (Slovenia); Dejan Skanata, Enconet <strong>International</strong> (Croatia)
<strong>The</strong> national radwaste management agency in Slovenia (ARAO) is under course of site confirmation and designing short-lived
radwaste disposal facility. <strong>The</strong>refore, development of the waste acceptance criteria for disposal started recently. <strong>The</strong> project scope
includes review and analysis a number of references focusing in particular on those waste properties and related parameters that
may affect safety of the repository.
<strong>The</strong> waste acceptance criteria for disposal cannot be clearly defined if the site selection process and repository design are in an
early stage. In such case a request is made that waste acceptance criteria should be anticipated. Such request is logical since the
total waste management cost should be optimized. Namely, predisposal waste management capacity should be established so as to
meet all the requested acceptance criteria (treatment, storage, transport and disposal). Any omissions during the predisposal stage
shall have to be made up by additional treatment, which will certainly increase the costs.
Development of waste acceptance criteria for disposal in Slovenia has been carried out under the following main conditions:
(1) Site selection process is under way (a shortlisted site is Vrbina, Krško); (2) Basic design of repository is proposed (underground
silos); (3) Total volume of short-lived waste in Slovenia expected by 2037 is assessed to be 17,200 m3 (assessment includes operational
and decommissioning waste from Krško NPP, decommissioning waste from TRIGA, and radwaste from medicine, research
and industry); (5) Characterization of the operational waste that is storing at Krško NPP site and acceptance criteria for this storage
has been performed; and (6) Characterization of the radioactive waste from other sources that is storing at Brinje site, as well
as corresponding acceptance criteria has been established.
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