Abstract
Irradiated nuclear graphite waste may account for up to 30% of any future UK geological ILW disposal facility (NDA, 2002). In order to make informed decisions of how best to dispose of large volumes of irradiated graphite waste within the UK nuclear programme, it is necessary to understand the nature and migration of isotopes present within the graphite and ultimately how these short and long term isotopes may behave prior to and during disposal. Various proposed decontamination and immobilisation treatments, within the EU Euroatom FP7 CARBOWASTE programme have been explored (von Lensa, 2008; von Lensa et al., 2011). Experiments have been carried out on UK irradiated graphite waste to investigate the removal of isotopic content prior to long term storage and to assess the long term leachability of isotopes. Several leaching conditions have been developed in order to remove 3H and 14C from the irradiated graphite. Leach results obtained from this analysis and differences observed under varying leaching conditions are discussed. Thermal analysis of the samples pre- and post-leaching has been performed to quantify the 14C and 3H inventory. Finally, the suitability of the developed chemical treatments before disposal is discussed.
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