Ensuring radiation safety during temporary storage of solidified radioactive waste in light hangar-type facilities

Abstract

Expensive permanent storage facilities with massive engineered structures are used traditionally to ensure safe temporary storage of solidified radioactive waste at the NPP sites. Such approach is dictated by the need to comply with the regulatory requirements for limiting the gamma background in the area adjacent to the storage facility. The costs involved in temporary storage of solidified RW can be optimized by using light hangar-type storage facilities. At the same time, the safety of storage, including radiation protection of the personnel, the public and the environment, is undoubtedly ensured through the use of special organizational and engineering solutions. The Novovoronezh NPP, a branch of JSC Concern Rosenergoatom, operates successfully light hangar-type facilities for temporary storage of solidified RW classified as medium-level waste in accordance with OSPORB-99/2009. In the process of operation, a methodology and a method for conditioning and temporary storage of solidified RW were developed to ensure the RW removal for final disposal with no extra process operations and unreasonable costs. A methodology has been developed to assess the radiation situation around storage facilities during temporary storage of RW, as well as a software package for predicting the radiation situation when deciding on the arrangement of the storage facility’s peripheral rows.