Systematic and progressive reduction of hazards is the key cornerstone to the management of radioactive wastes. The fundamental principles of radioactive waste management are:

  1. Avoidance, or minimisation if unavoidable, of production of radioactive wastes wherever possible.
  2. Radioactive material and waste should be managed safely throughout its life cycle, from production or recovery, through to disposal or safe storage.
  3. Use of existing routes for disposal of waste should be considered whilst taking account of all factors which could impact on the design of the waste management process (safety, environmental impact, technical viability and maturity, socio-economic etc)
  4. Radioactive material / waste should be conditioned and packaged into a passively safe state and placed in interim safe storage pending future disposal or other long term solution.

The life cycle of any radioactive waste follows the basic set of six nodes as shown below, used to represent the stages associated with the progressive reduction of hazards.

  • Waste Production or Recovery
  • 'Raw' Waste Transfer
  • Waste Conditioning
  • Waste Packaging
  • Waste Package Transfer
  • Waste Disposal or Storage

 

 

 

 

Any nuclear facility, whether existing or planned, can be considered in simple terms, to be no more than a radioactive waste inventory. The decommissioning of a facility is simply the first stage in the process by which the waste is produced or recovered. Integrated waste management strategies and plans are required to understand the optimal design of the life cycle for any waste stream. It is only when the waste is finally disposed of (perhaps at the point of repository placement) that the liability is discharged.

Nuclear Technologies provide a range of services associated with the management of radioactive waste and the impact of activities associated with radioactive waste life cycle on the environment including:

  • Production of integrated waste strategies, including the production of Technical Baseline Underpinning Research Documents and Technology Road Maps.
  • Waste management strategy development for decommissioning tasks and the subsequent transfer, packaging and disposal of the wastes based on the waste led approach to decommissioning.
  • Best Practicable Environmental Option, Best Practicable Means and Best Available Technique assessments.
  • Radioactive inventory sampling and characterisation.
  • Radioactive Substances Regulations compliance and site licensing.
  • Environmental Impact Assessment.
  • Creation of Environmental Management Systems.
  • Production of documentation in support of Radioactive Material transport submissions.
  • Waste compliance assessments to ensure that when waste is packaged by waste producers it is in a form which is suitable for safe storage, transport, handling and potential disposal.
  • Nuclear Licensed Site Emergency Planning arrangements.
  • Development of strategies for the management of spent nuclear fuel.