Radwaste Treatment Center

Abstract

Abstract Radioactive waste is produced during the NPP operation as well as the NPP dismantling and decommissioning phase. Different kinds of waste with different volumes, volume generation rates, properties and compositions have to be handled and treated according to the regulations of the corresponding country. The various waste streams arising especially during D&D activities require versatile treatment approaches to satisfy regulatory requirements and customer needs. Westinghouse has over 30 years of experience in the design, erection and commissioning of radwaste treatment equipment and facilities with special attention on waste volume reduction and minimization of secondary waste generation applied in projects, concepts and studies around the world. Minimization of the total life cycle cost for waste treatment and disposal is a key item for the application of economically viable solutions based on combined processes and integrated waste treatment systems. The ability of enhanced system design and flexible single process combination to form an optimized waste treatment center is crucial to set up the best process configuration with regard to lowest life cycle cost. Westinghouse’s experience in the field of radwaste treatment as well as the application of proven treatment technologies ensures the ability to form a customized radwaste treatment center, either integrated in an existing facility or as a new, free standing building that provides all relevant transport and handling equipment, interfaces, treatment equipment and temporary storage for waste packages. Starting with the identification of the waste streams and assessment of various treatment concepts together with the Customers, the best waste treatment concept that covers all relevant waste streams will be assessed and proposed, e.g. by using the Westinghouse Simulation and Optimization software tool. A typical example for combined waste treatment technologies is the Westinghouse Site Radwaste Treatment Facility in Sanmen (China) as well as concept variations of the SRTF for other reactors (e.g. ABWR, VVER, etc). The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview on the Westinghouse experience to design and optimize waste treatment facilities for various types of reactors under operation or post operation/D&D condition.