Optimising highly active waste management in all steps: production, storage, transportation and final disposal

摘要

Reprocessing of spent fuel is a powerful mean for managing two streams of highly activernwaste to be disposed of in geological repositories: fission products and minor actinidesrn(HLW)on the one side and alpha contaminated end-fittings and hulls (ILW) on the other. Inrnaddition, alpha contaminated technological waste arising from the reprocessing facilities mustrnbe disposed of too.rnCOGEMA has chosen to compact hulls and end fittings and condition them in canisters of thernsame geometry as those used for vitrified waste (hence the Universal Canister name,rndesignated as a CSD-V when it contains glass or CSD-C when it contains compacted waste).rnUsing the Universal Canister design makes it possible to standardize all steps of thernmanagement of waste:rn1. The production step is clearly very different when comparing vitrification and superrncompaction, however some common features have to be outlined: handling equipments,rnwelding equipments and qualification, decontamination.rn2. Concerning transportation, the same handling equipment as well as transport casks can bernused for the two types of waste, simplifying logistics questions. Mixing canisters would bernalso possible.rn3. Simple passive interim storage facilities can be built, such as the E-EV-SE facility in LarnHague, that makes it possible to store Universal Canisters for extended periods of time (100rnyears or more, should this option be chosen), in a mixed configuration CSD-V and CSD-Crnif desirable. The surface needed for such building is very little, much less than for a spentrnfuel storage building.rn4. In the final repository a single type of handling equipment can be used, simplifying itsrndesign. One can even take advantage of the different heat load and radiation characteristicsrnof the two types of waste to make optimum use of space. In addition, the long-termrndurability of these waste allow to develop simple designs, significantly cheaper than in therncase of spent fuel.rnThe technical simplification resulting from a single design is a powerful tool towards a fullyrnoptimised HLW management.