Chemical Technology October 2016

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Treatment of radioactive gaseous waste

This article focuses on the treatment of radioactive gaseous waste streams arising from the operations in fuel fabrication facilities, nuclear power plants, fuel reprocessing facilities and waste processing facilities. The extract from the original report (details on page 13) provides the user with an overview of the requirements for the management of radioactive gaseous waste. O ver the years the IAEA have issued a large number of publications covering various technological solutions in the area of pre-disposal management of radioac-

training material required for technology transfer to the IAEA Member States with less advanced nuclear programs. Overview of the management of gaseous waste with respect to public protection The performance requirement for an off-gas system arises from the process being operated and the gaseous products that it emits. The demand for gaseous cleanup is deter- mined by the limitations on discharging the contents of the off-gas stream to the environment. These limitations are related to legal requirements, regulatory controls and any local restrictions. These restrictions will vary around the world and a few are listed. See Table 1 [1]. In the SI system, a millisievert (mSv) is defined as “the average accumulated background radiation dose to an individual for 1 year, exclusive of radon.” 1mSv is the dose produced by exposure to 1milligray (mG) of radiation). The whole-body exposure threshold for acute

tive waste. The following eight technical topics were identi- fied as sufficient to provide adequate technical support. 1. Pre-treatment of low and intermediate level waste; 2. Treatment of low and intermediate level liquid waste; 3. Treatment of low and intermediate level solid waste; 4. Treatment of radioactive gaseous waste; 5. Conditioning of low and intermediate level liquid, solidified and solid waste; 6. Processing of high level waste and spent nuclear fuel declared as waste; 7. Characterisation and monitoring of radioactive waste, waste forms and waste packages, and 8. Storage of radioactive waste and conditioned waste packages. These handbooks serve as a basis for development of

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Chemical Technology • October 2016