Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal

Introduction
Sources of radioactive wastes
Different stages of nuclear fuel cycle
Mining, fuel fabrication, operation, spent fuel handling..

Decommissioning of NPPs Medical facilities

X-ray labs, radiological medicines..

Industrial sources
Radioisotopes

Underlying objective that governs the management of such waste: protection of man and environment, now as well as in the future. Focus: Radioactive waste management and disposal practices in India

Introduction to Radioactivity
Radioactivity: process by which a nucleus of an unstable atom loses energy by emitting particles or ionizing radiation
Radiation Particulate
Alpha Beta Neutrons

Electromagnetic
Gamma

Introduction to Radioactivity
Unit of radioactivity: Becquerel (Bq)

Level of hazard of radioactive waste diminishes with time. Half lives may be of the order of few seconds to millions of years.

Why radioactivity is of concern?

Radioactive Waste Management Policy in India

Discharge as low as reasonably achievable (technically, economically & socially) Low and intermediate level solid/solidified waste in near surface shallow land repository. High-level and alpha contaminated liquid waste immobilized in suitable matrix & stored in an interim storage facility with cooling and surveillance. Thereafter, these solidified waste products will be emplaced in a suitably engineered deep geological repository. Waste not qualifying for near surface disposal is provided suitable interim storage pending its disposal in a deep geological repository. Spent radiation sources are either returned to the original supplier or handed over to a radioactive waste management agency identified by the regulatory body. Co-location of near surface disposal facility with the nuclear installations. The regulatory body determines the period for which active control of the shallow land repository should be maintained by the waste management agency (~100yrs). Thereafter, the passive control will be passed on to the Central Government (~300yrs).

Classification of Radioactive wastes

Classification of liquid / gas waste based on the activity level.
Category Activity (Bq/L)

Exempt
Low level High level

neglegible
373.7106 Bq/L >3.71011 Bq/L

Solid wastes classified as: - combustible -non-combustible -compressible -non-compressible Further classification based on activity level as low, high etc.
1.K. Raj, K.K. Prasad, N.K. Bansal, Radioactive waste management practices in India, Nuclear Engineering and Design 236 (2006) pp: 914930.

Basic steps in radioactive waste mgmt.

Radioactive waste mgmt facilities

Gaseous waste management

Efficient gas cleaning techniques
Wet scrubbers like venturi, dust, packed bed Cyclone separators Low pressure drop demisters Chillers, HEPA filters Charcoal filters.

Choice depends on activity, partculate density etc Filter beds treated as solid radioactive waste
1.P.K. Dey, N.K. Bansal, Spent fuel reprocessing: A vital link in Indian nuclear power program, Nuclear Engineering and Design 236 (2006) pp:723729.

Low and intermediate liquid waste

Chemical treatment: Liquid wastes with low levels of activity treated by co-precipitation using chemicals like barium chloride. Resultant sludge is concentrated by decantation, filtration and centrifugation. Resulting solids are immobilized in cement matrix before disposal.

Low and intermediate liquid waste

Ion exchange: Synthetic organic ion exchange resins such as synthetic zeolites, the clay mineral vermiculite and ammonium molybdophosphate. Selective ion exchange is used for the management of waste streams in Tarapur. A unique transportable shielded ion exchange facility is also operational at Trombay. As a result of this treatment, the intermediate level waste is split into two streams, viz., a small volume of high-level waste and a large volume of low-level waste, which is treated and discharged to the environment.

Low and intermediate liquid waste

Evaporation: Widely used for concentrating the liquid waste as it gives very high volume reduction factor as well as high decontamination factor. Both steam and solar evaporation methods are employed. Solar evaporation(zero release operation), is preferred for larger volumes of waste with low activity at sites such as Rajasthan.

Low and intermediate liquid waste

Membrane process: Membrane based processes like reverse osmosis and ultra filtration are used in combination with other treatment methods like chemical treatment or ion-exchange process to further improve the decontamination. A reverse osmosis plant of capacity 100m3/day is in operation for treatment of low-level waste at Trombay.

Conditioning
Cementation: Cement and cement composites are used for immobilization of low-level radioactive concentrates. Cementation process also used for in situ immobilization of intermediate level waste in specific cases. In situ cementation results in large waste processing rate with extremely low exposure to the radiation workers. At Trombay, cone mixers located in hot cells with easy remotized operational amenability are used for conditioning of intermediate level waste in cement matrix.

Conditioning
Polymerization: Polyester styrene used for immobilization of ILW concentrates and spent ion exchange resin from nuclear power stations and other facilities, and for in situ solidification of low-heat generating liquid waste from reprocessing plant. Radioactive spent resins polymerization:
Resins are hydro pneumatically transferred to resin storage tank. Excess water is removed by vacuum de-watering system. Mixing assembly is mounted on this product drum. Requisite amount of polyester styrene polymer is premixed with optimized concentration of accelerator (dimethyl aniline) and catalyst (benzoyl peroxide). This polymer is then gradually poured into a product drum with constant stirring.

These resin fixation facilities exist at nuclear power plant sites in Narora (Uttar Pradesh), Kakrapar (Gujarat) and Tarapur (Maharashtra).

Mgmt of high level liquid waste

Matrix development: Borosilicate glass matrix is adopted for vitrification of HLW. Conditioned products are evaluated using advanced analytical instruments like scanning electron microscope, electron microprobe analyzer, X-ray diffractometer, inductively coupled plasma spectrometer and thermal analysis system.

Mgmt of high level liquid waste

Vitrification : Consists of metering of preconcentrated waste and glass forming additives in the form of slurry into the process vessel located in a multi-zone furnace. Calcinated mass is fused into glass at about 950 C and is soaked at 9501000 C for 8 h to achieve homogenization. The molten mass is then drained into stainless steel canisters and allowed to cool slowly in an insulated assembly. This is then welded remotely. Vitrified waste canisters are further enclosed in secondary stainless steel containers called overpacks. India has vitrification plants at Tarapur, Trombay and Kalpakkam.

Mgmt of solid waste

Wastes classified and categorized Low level wastes are burned in special incinerators Hydraulically operated baling press is used to compress and pelletize low active non-combustible waste. Pelletized waste stored in near surface bays.

Storage
Storage of radioactive waste containing mainly shortlived radionuclides enables their decay and subsequent release within authorized limits. Storage of high-level radioactive waste, like spent fuel, is done to dissipate the decay heat prior to its reprocessing or disposal.

Storage
Near surface disposal facilities (NSDF): Seven in India
stone-lined earth trenches (SLT) reinforced concrete trenches (RCT) tile holes (TH)

Stone-lined earth trenches: Shallow excavations in soil, 14m deep, provided with stone lining, employed for very low active waste. On completion of the disposal operation, trenches are backfilled and closed by providing a soil cover of nearly one meter thick. Vermiculite, bentonite and native soil having good sorption properties are used as backfill materials.

Storage
Reinforced concrete trenches (RCT):
4.8m deep, 2.5m wide and 15m long. Outer containment wall thickness varies from 350mm at the top to 750mm at the bottom. Each zone of trenches is serviced by either a gantry or a mobile crane. Adequate waterproofing is provided. On completion of the filling operation, these trenches are closed by pre-cast concrete slabs, which also provide necessary shielding. Adequate sealing and water proofing is provided subsequent to closure of the battery.

Storage
Tile Holes (TH):
Waste packages in 200 L standard packing containing conditioned waste with more than 4000 Bq/g of alpha activity are retrievably stored in tile holes. These are circular vaults, nearly 4m below ground level having an average inside diameter of 710 mm. These are made of 6mm thick carbon steel shell with 25mm thick concrete lining on both sides and provided with adequate waterproofing.

Storage
Interim storage of vitrified wastes:
High-level vitrified wastes characterized by decay heat. Storage facility at Tarapur, with capacity for storing nearly 1700 overpacks with an inventory of nearly 80,000,000 TBq of radioactivity. Underground outer vault of dimensions 74.5m31.5m5.2m and two inner vaults (thermal) of sizes 34.0m25.2m2.5m each. The over packs are suspended vertically from the top slab. A concrete roof of 1.2m thickness provides adequate radiation shielding.

Disposal
Disposal in deep geological repository envisages emplacement of vitrified wastes at depths of about 500600m in appropriate host rocks, e.g., granite, granite gneisses, charnockite, basalt and other geological set ups. The Indian programme on geological repository commenced in the early eighties with underground experiments in an abandoned section of a gold mine in Kolar at a depth of 1000 m. A layout for an underground research laboratory based on the site-specific investigations. The layout, extends over an area of about 4 km2 and considers emplacement of around 10,000 highlevel waste overpacks on a pit mode.

Summary
Among large scale power generation facilities, nuclear power plants are the only ones which take full responsibility of the wastes produced by them. Waste management facilities at various nuclear installation sites are operating safely and successfully for more than four decades. By suitable treatment and conditioning of waste it is ensured that prime objective of safety of environment is fully achieved.

Thank you