Treatment and Disposal of Irradiated Graphite and Other Carbonaceous Waste (CARBOWASTE)

Gas-Cooled Reactors (GCR), RBMK and some Material Test Reactors (MTR) make use of graphite as moderator of the fuel, structures of the core and/or thermal columns. During operation, the graphite and other carbonaceous materials like carbon brick, pyrocarbon and silicon carbide coatings are contaminated by fission products and neutron activation. These irradiated carbonaceous wastes are problematic due to their content of long-lived radioisotopes (e.g. Carbon14, Chlorine 36) and due to their large volumes. About 250000 t of i-carbon are existing, worldwide. Acceptable solutions have not yet been established to handle this kind of waste. This fact also represents a significant drawback for the market introduction of graphite-moderated reactors like Very/High-Temperature Reactors (V/HTR) as a promising Generation IV system candidate. Graphite moderated reactors represent the very first generation of nuclear reactors and therefore need to be decommissioned ahead of other reactor types which evolved later. Presently, accelerated decommissioning of GCR and RBMK and subsequent disposal of i-graphite is the preferred option for not leaving this waste as a legacy for future generations. The CARBOWASTE project aims at an integrated waste management approach for this kind of radioactive wastes which are mainly characterized as Intermediate Level Waste (ILW), due to the varying content of long-lived radioisotopes. Methodologies and databases will be developed for assessing different technology options like direct disposal in adopted waste containers, treatment & purification before disposal or even recycling i-carbonaceous material for reuse in the nuclear field. The feasibility of the associated processes will be experimentally investigated to deliver data for modeling the microstructure and localization of contaminants. This is of high importance to better understand the origin of the contamination and the release mechanisms during treatment and/or disposal.

Total cost: 12 292 114,80 EUR (LEI part: 139 986 EUR)

Coordinator: FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM JULICH GMBH, Germany

Participants:

• AMEC FOSTER WHEELER NUCLEAR UK LIMITED, United Kingdom
• AGENCE NATIONALE POUR LA GESTION DES DECHETS RADIOACTIFS, France
• AREVA NP SAS, France
• BRADTEC DECON TECHNOLOGIES ltd, United Kingdom
• CENTRO DE INVESTIGACIONES ENERGETICAS, MEDIOAMBIENTALES Y TECNOLOGICAS-CIEMAT, Spain
• COMMISSARIAT A L ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES, France
• DOOSAN POWER SYSTEMS LIMITED, United Kingdom
• ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE, France
• ECOLE NORMALE SUPERIEURE, France
• AGENZIA NAZIONALE PER LE NUOVE TECNOLOGIE, L’ENERGIA E LO SVILUPPO ECONOMICO SOSTENIBILE,, Italy
• EMPRESA NACIONAL DE RESIDUOS RADIACTIVOS S.A., Spain
• UCAR SNC – GROUPE GRAFTECH INTERNATIONAL LTD, France
• VALSTYBINIS MOKSLINIU TYRIMU INSTITUTAS FIZINIU IR TECHNOLOGIJOS MOKSLU CENTRAS, Lithuania
• REGIA AUTONOMA PENTRU ACTIVITATI NUCLEARE DROBETA TR. SEVERIN RA SUCURSALA CERCETARI NUCLEARE PITESTI, Romania
• CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS, France
• JRC -JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE- EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Belgium
• LIETUVOS ENERGETIKOS INSTITUTAS, Lithuania
• NATIONAL NUCLEAR LABORATORY LIMITED, United Kingdom
• NUCLEAR DECOMMISSIONING AUTHORITY – NDA, United Kingdom
• NUCLEAR RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY GROUP, Netherlands
• STUDIECENTRUM VOOR KERNENERGIE, Belgium
• SGL CARBON GMBH, Germany
• STUDSVIK NUCLEAR AB, Sweden
• ASSOCIATION POUR LA RECHERCHE ET LE DEVELOPPEMENT DES METHODES ET PROCESSUS INDUSTRIELS, France
• THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER, United Kingdom
• PEBBLE BED MODULAR REACTOR COMPANY (PTY) LTD, South Africa
• SOUTH AFRICAN NUCLEAR ENERGY CORPORATION LIMITED, South Africa
• ALD FRANCE, France
• SOCIETA GESTIONE IMPIANTI NUCLEARI PER AZIONI, Italy