The packaging stage involves the use of waste containers that are designed to provide containment through subsequent phases of the waste management lifecycle.
Appropriate packaging of radioactive waste is undertaken to ensure the waste meets requirements for storage, transport or disposal regulation. Packaging provides an extra layer of protection on top of treatment or conditioning for HAW. Most waste needs to be packaged but the type used will depend on the waste in question.
Case study
Cross-site learning with waste packages
Shared learning on waste storage solutions has saved the NDA group around £1 billion, thanks to research developed by NRS Magnox.
The need to store waste is something all site licence companies (SLCs) across the UK have in common, but the highest volume will be produced at Sellafield.
So, when it came to the design of more than 43,000 new, precision-engineered waste boxes the site needed to procure for its decommissioning work, the Sellafield team came to NRS Magnox seeking to benefit from its learning and experience.
With similar waste management challenges already being addressed at NRS Magnox, Sellafield found the solution it was looking for at Hunterston A.
Hunterston’s waste store accepts 3m3 stainless steel boxes, the design for which had been revised and improved several years ago making the boxes more robust, but also easier and more cost-effective to manufacture.
As the decommissioning waste to be packaged at Sellafield would be of a similar nature to that at Hunterston, the next step was to see if the box design would be transferable.
“We already know how to manufacture these boxes, and how much that work costs, as well as having put in a lot of effort to substantiate the design – we know they will last the distance for long-term use,” Waste Consultants based at Hunterston said. “NRS Magnox were approached by Sellafield for information on the stainless steel boxes and over several months of sharing information it became clear just how much work had been done to ensure that the revised design was fit for purpose for Sellafield.”
The work had already ensured the process and components used for the design were simple, reducing the manufacturing costs significantly. And importantly, it had been accepted by Nuclear Waste Services, the company responsible for the Geological Disposal Facility GDF.
Regarding meeting Sellafield’s strict quality standards, the boxes have now been through full scrutiny and have been signed-off as fit for purpose and meeting internal use needs. It nearly took 24 months to finalise, but Sellafield gained not only the design of the box but also the underpinning work to demonstrate that it is viable.”
This kind of box will be used for decommissioning work at Sellafield, rather than storage of high-hazard wastes, for which a separate, highly engineered box is needed. Decommissioning work, including building demolition, is not scheduled to start until around 2023, meaning there is still plenty of time for further innovations that could benefit the whole estate.
And it is about more than just money – using the Hunterston box design at Sellafield could also save approximately 15,000 tonnes of steel.
As Sellafield has moved from reprocessing to a remediation focus, there are opportunities for robust challenges of our assumptions. Sellafield received a great deal of support from Hunterston to progress this work, and there are many more areas that collaboration will help both SLCs. For example, we have been able to share information developed at Sellafield on disposability of waste, and we are keen to learn more about the work being done at Winfrith to decommission research reactors.
The costs associated with waste storage and disposal will be an increasing proportion of budgets across the NDA group in the future, and together NRS Magnox and Sellafield have already been able to challenge assumptions on these costs, making vital savings for the UK taxpayer.