Treatment of Solid Radioactive Waste: The Incineration of Low Level Radioactive Waste

摘要

Nuclear facilities produce large quantities of burnable solid radioactive waste which incineration can reduce in volume and change into a form capable of ultimate storage. Experiments over many years were carried out at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center to determine the boundary conditions for the design and construction of incineration plants for radioactive waste. On the basis of those experiments a test facility was started up in 1971. This operating facility consists of a shaft furnace lined with ceramics with a downstream series of ceramic flue gas filters. In 1976 the plant was exchanged by the installation of a pilot facility for burning organic solvents and of a flue gas scrubber. The plant has so far been in operation for more than 28000 hours and has processed in excess of 1500 to of solid and some 300 m exp 3 of liquid low level radioactive wastes. Various repairs and interventions were carried out without greatly impairing availability, which was 81 % on the average. The plant design is being used by various licensees in Japan and Europe; three plants are either in operation or completed, three more are under construction or in the planning stage. On the basis of the available process an incineration plant for alpha contaminated waste will be built at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center in the next few years. (Atomindex citation 14:765002)