PLANNING AND OPERATION OF VAALPUTS, THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITY

摘要

Vaalputs, the South African National Radioactive Waste Management Facility, is situated in an arid area of the Northern Cape Province and is operated by the Atomic Energy Corporation of South Africa Ltd (AEC). Screening and site selection lasted from 1978 to 1984; construction took place from 1984 to 1986, when operations began. Low and intermediate level radioactive waste is disposed of by near surface disposal in clay. The waste received is predominantly from the Koeberg nuclear power station, which consists of two 920 MW(e) PWRs. Vaalputs is 450 km north of Koeberg and 1200 km southwest of the AEC's main site at Pelindaba, near Pretoria. The planning and technical concept of the repository were overseen by a steering committee consisting of members of the AEC, the utility and the regulatory authority. Vaalputs met internationally accepted site selection criteria eminently satisfactorily, and groundwater modelling shows that no problem is expected from radionuclide migration. Vaalputs is operated by 11 staff under a manager who reports to Pelindaba. Operations have proceeded smoothly for the past ten years. Radiological monitoring, which consists of analysing samples from boreholes, earth and vegetation up to a distance of 18 km from the site, shows no evidence of any undesirable impact. Vaalputs has received approximately 7000 waste packages, and the inventory of activity is approximately 52 TBq of various radionuclides. Capping of one of the trenches is now being planned. The disposal site occupies approximately 100 ha; the total Vaalputs site is approximately 10 000 ha. Except for the disposal area and an airstrip, Vaalputs is operated as a nature reserve. The local communities are kept fully informed of operations and plans for Vaalputs. Visits by organizations and individuals are encouraged. A trust has been formed to promote social upliftment programmes in the area. Vaalputs will continue to serve Koeberg for the lifetime of the station (until about 2020), and it can accept waste from other stations when they are built. Spent fuel storage and disposal are possible future activities.