Year
1996
Abstract
In the past, waste treatment and conditioning has been carried out according to the best effbrt approach, but the availabIe data do not provide the isotopic inventories and treatment documentation as they are now requested to show compliance with the license of the storage sites. Techniques have been developed for the inspection and sampling of raw waste, ashes and conditioned waste packages up to 1000 kg. (h-e drilling equipment has been installed for the safe sampling of cemented waste containers over their Ml height allowing for contact radiation doses over 10 mSv and alpha emitters in the range of 10 kBq/g. Calibrated segmented gamma scanning of waste drums up to 500 kg is installed to measure the activity distribution, to define appropriate sampling plans and to establish total nuclide inventories. Destructive analysis techniques have been developed for most types of raw and conditioned historical waste. Specific measurement methods have been developed to verib compliance with storage site requirements, in particular with respect to total alpha activity and fissile material content. Cross- checks and calculational models have been implemented to correlate the diffkrent measured parameters to underpin the isotopic inventories and characteristics reported in the final waste package documentation. The procedures allow to establish the type and category of waste for routing the package to the appropriate treatment or reconditioning in order to produce an acceptable final form. The invento~ of nuclides in the waste package is established to verifi the historical declarations on its content and to produce a certificate of compliance with the license of the interim storage location or the final disposal site.