Abstract:
Very-low-level (TFA) radioactive waste produced at CERN is typically disposed of at the French disposal facility in the Aube district. The acceptability of TFA waste at the repository depends on the physical, chemical and radiological properties of the waste items. The present work introduces a comprehensive methodology to perform the radiological characterization of TFA, legacy waste which is temporarily stored at the Organization’s premises. This methodology is inspired by the so-called “scaling factor” technique, which is currently used for the characterization of waste in nuclear power plants and which was adapted to the specificities of CERN’s radioactive waste.
This presentation will cover challenges and solutions related to radiological characterization, including:
- a statistical approach to quantify the activity of difficult-to-measure radionuclides such as pure-beta and low-energy X-ray emitters,
- a Monte Carlo approach to deal with fluctuations in the chemical compositions of materials,
- probabilistic and non-probabilistic sampling, depending on the accessibility of waste,
- uncertainty quantification in the evaluation of activity, with an analysis of every step of the characterization process.
In 2016, the scaling-factor method was successfully used for the characterization of over 1’000 m3 of TFA, metallic waste. The application of this methodology to such a wide range of waste allowed an accurate analysis of its advantages and limits, which will presented along with practical examples. The presentation will finish with an overview of awaiting challenges for the characterization of fresh radioactive waste, which will be produced during future maintenance and dismantling campaigns.