In June of 2022, ENRESA published the 8th revision of the Technical Specification, “Criterios de Aceptación de Bultos Primarios de RBMA”. The reasons for this review included the volume optimization as an option in the conditioning process for packages resulting from reconditioning processes.
In order to provide a solution to the 23 packages indicated above, it was proposed that they could be reconditioned into prismatic metal containers (CMT), optimized in volume by adding powdery residues from the melting process of the metal waste of Santa María de Garoña Nuclear Power Plant carried out at the Cyclife facilities.
The acceptance process of the reconditioned packages optimized in volume with different types of waste was carried out in accordance with the methodology “Metodología de aceptación de bultos de RBMA”.
This process can be divided into the following stages:
- Discovery of packages in the facilities of the Santa María de Garoña Nuclear Power Plant that, due to their condition, need to be reconditioned in larger packaging.
- Edition of a “Documento Descriptivo de Bulto” by the Santa María de Garoña Nuclear Power Plant, which describes the methodology of production of the packages.
- Means Control to the process of generation of a prototype package, carried out with the aim of verifying “in situ” the means that the producer has available for the conditioning of waste. The Means Control is carried out prior to the approval of the “Documento Descriptivo de Bulto” by ENRESA, so the result of this must be satisfactory.
- Approval of the “Documento Descriptivo de Bulto” and edition of the “Libro de Proceso” by ENRESA. This step is carried out jointly and involves the acceptance of the packages for transport and storage at the waste repository of El Cabril.
This process is analogous to the rest of LILW package acceptance processes, paying special attention to the assignment of activity to the final package, which was carried out and verified according to the following premises:
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- Easily measured γ isotopes: the sum of the activity of the wastes included in the package was considered, in accordance with the Technical Specification “Especificación Técnica para la evaluación, aceptación y seguimiento de las metodologías aplicables en la determinación de la actividad de los bultos RBMA”.
- Rest of β–γ isotopes and α isotopes: was done individually for each nature, depending on the amount of waste introduced in the final package.
The main conclusions that were obtained after the completion of the process were the next:
A. Packages whose reprocessing was not viable for operational reasons (packages already immobilized, dose rate, etc.), were managed.
B. The use of a walled package, with hydraulic binder, made possible the management of the powdery secondary waste from the melting of the metal waste of the Santa María de Garoña Nuclear Power Plant as a volume optimization, reducing the final generation of packages by 29% in terms of stored volume.
C. The viability of assigning activity to a package with different natures was verified.
D. It is necessary to adapt the waste management systems to automate the data loading of the packages generated as a result of volume optimization, with special emphasis on the data related to activity allocation.
