Management Of Radioactive Materials Research Articles

Spatial Characterization of Shallow Structures in the Revell Batholith Integrating Seismic Imaging Techniques

The Revell Site, located in Northwestern Ontario within the Canadian Shield, is being assessed as a potential Deep Geological Repository (DGR) for Canada’s used nuclear fuel. Effective DGR establishment requires comprehensive subsurface assessment, particularly in evaluating structural stability, hydrogeological attributes, geological composition, and geochemical properties. Key among these considerations is understanding the three-dimensional characteristics of structural features to ensure the site’s suitability for long-term containment of radioactive materials. This case study focuses on imaging and characterizing structures within the predominantly intact biotite granodiorite-tonalite host rock at the Revell Site. Borehole data reveals these structures as mostly sub-horizontal mafic intrusions, with thicknesses of up to 3.5 m. They appear either as separate, discrete entities or in stacked configurations. Despite their limited thickness, most of these intrusions exhibit discernible attributes in surface seismic images due to their distinct physical properties. Some, however, exhibit velocity variations that decrease their overall reflectivity properties. An integrative approach employing surface seismic, Vertical Seismic Profiles (VSP), and borehole data facilitates the spatial identification of over 30 of these mafic structures. This comprehensive characterization not only lays the foundational framework for future discrete fracture network models but also provides important support for simulations related to fluid flow dynamics, groundwater behavior, contaminant dispersion, and heat transport mechanisms within the Revell Site. This study underscores the critical role of in-depth subsurface characterization in ensuring the secure, long-term management of radioactive materials in DGRs.

(De)politicization through safetization? Decision-making on nuclear waste management in Finland and France

Abstract. While both Finland and France are seen as forerunners in final disposal of nuclear waste, there are striking differences between the countries in public and policy discussion on the safety of the project. This paper studies safety-related arguments in national-level decision-making on final disposal of nuclear waste in Finland and France, using selected parliamentary documents as the empirical material. The paper adopts safetization in decision-making on nuclear waste management as its central concept. By safetization we refer to a process whereby, first, images of risks and uncertainties are either created or explained away to give assurance of safety. Second, current practices are normalized, or various – sometimes even exceptional – measures are demanded in order to change current practices and thereby solve the issue and ensure safety. Thus, prevailing views of safety can be supported to build further trust and confidence or alternatively challenged in order to achieve more robust understanding regarding the issue. As a result of safetization, political power will be re-distributed between key actor groups such as implementers, regulators, and politicians. Our empirical analysis explores such processes whereby members of parliament frame, politicize, and depoliticize safety. We employ four data corpuses, two from both case-study countries. The Finnish data consist of the minutes of two plenary sessions of the Finnish Parliament. The first, held in 2001, concerned the Council of State Decision-in-Principle on Posiva's application for the construction of a spent nuclear fuel disposal facility, whereas the second, in 2015, discussed the Statement by the Prime Minister on Nuclear Waste Management Research and Safety Assessment. The French data consist of the debates in preparation for two specific acts on nuclear waste: the first (from 2006) on the framework law on the management of radioactive material and waste and the second (from 2016) on the law defining the conditions for the creation of a reversible deep geological facility for high-level waste (HLW) disposal. The focus of the analysis is on the identification of frames and four frame functions. The functions are as follows. (1) Definition of a situation, issue, or problem related to final disposal. (2) Diagnosis of causes or reasons for the situation as it is portrayed in the data or in a speech. (3) Evaluation or judgement concerning the situation and possibly the actors involved. (4) Suggested course of action. We argue that safety is not only an outcome of scientific research and technical competence, but that efforts to ensure safety also include framing of safetization and de-safetization in political and public debate. Research on energy policy should integrate safetization as a key topic alongside issues such as energy security and climate change mitigation, given that safetization involves similar politicization and de-politicization processes and the exercise of power.

Risk assessment for the optimization of the grid of a telemetric network monitoring system

The goal of this work was to develop a methodology for risk assessment in case of an accident originating from a nuclear power plant, and consequently, to improve the relevant radiation monitoring network. In specific, the study involved risk estimation in Greece from a transboundary nuclear power plant accident. The tool employed was JRODOS (Java-based Real-time Decision Support), which is a system for off-site emergency management of radioactive material in the environment. This tool, widely used to generate and study scenarios for nuclear accidents worldwide, provides valuable insight to facilitate emergency preparedness and response. The probability of the plume arriving at numerous regions within the country was calculated, along with the maximum dose rates in case of transport. A risk assessment was performed, and geographical regions were prioritized in terms of risk-based environmental radioactivity burden. A total of 29 administrative districts were identified as low to medium-risk regions. Acquired results were used to determine the optimal spatial distribution of detectors for upgrading the existing monitoring network of environmental radioactivity.

Another loss of radioactive material in Thailand highlights the need for effective risk communication

On March 10th 2023, a cylinder containing caesium-137 was found missing from a power plant near Bangkok, Thailand. This generated lots of fear and anxiety, fuelled by social media and inadequate statements from the authorities. Later it was discovered in a foundry, compressed and partially melted. It is clear from this incident that risk communication was inadequate. Two case studies from Southeast Asia, the 2004 Asian Earthquake and Tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, and the COVID-19 pandemic illustrate the significance of effective risk communication in crisis management and public policy. This incident in Thailand serves as a "wake-up call" for other countries in Southeast Asia and beyond, urging them to ensure the safe management of radioactive materials as well as to pay attention to their own investments in creating efficient risk communication frameworks to deal with future disasters.

Design of a Nuclear Monitoring System Based on a Multi-Sensor Network and Artificial Intelligence Algorithm

Nuclear power is a sustainable energy source, but radiation management is required for its safe use. Radiation-detection technology has been developed for the safe management of radioactive materials in nuclear facilities but its performance may vary depending on the size and complexity of the structure of nuclear facilities. In this study, a nuclear monitoring system using a multi-sensor network was designed to monitor radioactive materials in a large nuclear facility. Additionally, an artificial-intelligence-based localization algorithm was developed to accurately locate radioactive materials. The system parameters were optimized using the Geant4 Application for Tomographic emission (GATE) toolkit, and the localization algorithm was developed based on the performance evaluation of the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Decision Tree (D-Tree) models. In this article, we present the feasibility of the proposed monitoring system by converging the radiation detection system and artificial intelligence technology.

Activation of medical accelerator components and radioactive waste classification based on low beam energy model Clinac 2300

The medical linear accelerator, used in Nicolaus Copernicus Hospital in Lodz is integrated system used for photonuclear therapy. The accelerator shows presence of radioactive impurities produced by activation process, by the beam interactions take place and result in residual radioactivity that lasts even after operation and dismantling of the accelerator. The radioactive material management, after disposing or replacing components of the medical accelerator, presents some technical challenges, due to the lack of the clear standards for radioactive waste management in Poland. In practice, most radioactive wastes were stored within the institution or by the manufacturer. After 10 years of operating the medical linear accelerator, the majority of the resulting radioactive waste has been dismantled and each eliminated part has been controlled by verifying the contact dose rates for the pilot analysis with the objective to establish a radioactive waste classification procedure for low beam energy below 35 MeV accelerators. Six accelerator structural elements with elevated surface dose rate values were submitted to radiometric analysis for proper analysis of materials as radioactive wastes. Identification of radionuclide impurities in the construction of an accelerator is the only possible method of proper classification of activated materials, due to the safety assessment of the storage facility.

Review paper on Radioactive Wastes and its Management

The waste that is left over after the use of radioactive materials in atomic reactors or at some point after the progress of atomic weapons is known as radioactive waste. Since the use of radioactive substances has been completed on a large scale in recent years, resulting in the creation of a big amount of radioactive waste, radioactive material management has become an important stage in dealing with it. Even if not correctly implemented, light from radioactive material will cause problems for humans and the climate. The peer-review paper discusses a well-known assessment of globally nuclear waste research. The cutting-edge evaluation includes studies on protection tests, decommissioning and disinfection of nuclear power plants, fusion power plants, and haulage. Furthermore, the evaluation emphasizes radioactive wastewater remediation, its management and final disposal alternatives for consumed petroleum and waste materials, by keeping in mind its effects on ecology due to radio radioactive isotope mobility in the ecology.

Current status of disposal and measurement analysis of radioactive components in linear accelerators in Korea

When X-ray energy above 8 MV is used, photoneutrons are generated by the photonuclear reaction, which activates the components of linear accelerator (linac). Safely managing the radioactive material, when disposing linac or replacing components, is difficult, as the standards for the radioactive material management are not clear in Korea. We surveyed the management status of radioactive components occurred from medical linacs in Korea. And we also measured the activation of each part of the discarded Elekta linac using a survey meter and portable High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. We found that most medical institutions did not perform radiation measurements when disposing of radioactive components. The radioactive material was either stored within the institution or collected by the manufacturer. The surface dose rate measurements showed that the parts with high surface dose rates were target, primary collimator, and multileaf collimator (MLC). 60Co nuclide was detected in most parts, whereas for the target, 60Co and 184Re nuclides were detected. Results suggest that most institutions in Korea did not have the regulations for disposing radioactive waste from linac or the management procedures and standards were unclear. Further studies are underway to evaluate short-lived radionuclides and to lay the foundation for radioactive waste management from medical linacs.

Development of the Multi-Cubic [formula omitted]-ray spectrometer and its performance under intense 137Cs and 60Co radiation fields

The number of nuclear facilities being decommissioned has been increasing worldwide, in particular following the accident of the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings’ Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in 2011. Large amounts of radioactive wastes and spent nuclear fuels are stored in these facilities. Furthermore, advanced radiation therapies such as proton therapy, ion therapy, and boron neutron capture therapy using charged-particle accelerators have become popular, but charged-particle accelerators generate radiators during operation. In these nuclear and radiation facilities, proper management of radioactive materials is required until the end of the deactivation, cleanup, or disposal. Then, γ-ray spectroscopy techniques have been useful tools because they can obtain significant information on radioisotopes. Besides, space information of radioisotopes is also important, and γ-ray imaging is also required. However, intense radiation fields are located at these facilities, causing γ-ray spectroscopy and imaging difficultly. A γ-ray spectrometer with four segmentations using small-volume CeBr3 scintillators with a dimension of 5×5×5 mm3 was developed. The four scintillators were coupled to a multi-anode photomultiplier tube specific to intense radiation fields by individual supplied voltages to the last three stages. We performed the γ-ray exposure to the spectrometer under 137Cs and60Co radiation fields at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan. Under the 137Cs radiation field, the relative energy resolution at 1375 mSv/h was 9.2 ± 0.05%, 8.0 ± 0.08%, 8.0 ± 0.03%, and 9.0 ± 0.04% for the four channels, respectively. As the dose rate increased, significant spectral downward shifts were observed for the four channels under the 137Cs and60Co radiation fields because of the space charge effects in the photomultiplier tube. However, the Multi-Cubic sensor could provide the total throughput rate for the four channels of greater than 6 Mcps (Mcps: 106 counts per second), which increases the detection efficiency under intense radiation fields.

Abstract P4-02-18: Sentinel node biopsy mapping using fluoresceine in breast cancer. An alternative for low and middle income countries

Abstract Background: All methods available for SNB identification suffer from many flaws including cost of the probes, allergies or management of radioactive material. Breast cancer is a challenging issue in LMIC [1]. Fluorescein has been described first in this meeting [2-3] as an alternative cheap and safe tracer in SNB mapping [4]. Our aim was to reproduce the feasibility and the safety of fluorescein SNB mapping compared with Isosulfan blue dye as a reference. Methods: Ten patients, with biopsy proven BC, were operated on for SNB biopsy and prospectively included over a period of one year (April 2018 - April 2019). Patients had 2 cc Isosulfan blue dye and 2 cc 10% fluorescein mixed with 4 cc of 9% saline solution injected subcutaneously in the peri-areolar area prior to lymph node biopsy. Fluorescent lymph nodes were detected by 5 nm ultra-violet light-emitting diode flashlight. They were removed and then remaining blue and/or suspicious nodes were removed. The detection rate and the complications were the primary objectives in this study. Results: Mean age was 40 years old (range 27 - 72). Mean size of the tumor was 20 mm (5 - 70mm). All patients but one had invasive breast carcinoma and one had ductal carcinoma in situ. All patients had no clinical or radiological suspicious nodal involvement before surgery. Six patients had a breast conserving surgery and four had a mastectomy. After a mean delay of 15,5 minutes after injection, SLN sampling was performed. All patients had fluorescent and blue nodes. A total of 27 fluorescent nodes and 25 blue nodes were harvested during these procedures. All blue nodes were fluorescent. Two nodes had micro-metastasis on final pathology. One of them was only detected by fluorescein. Adverse effects were represented by 2 seromas. No patient experienced an allergic reaction. Conclusion: In this pilot study, we were able to reproduce the published data where fluorescein based SNB detection was feasible, efficient in the detection rate and safe. We emphasize the need for a larger multicenter study to confirm the clinical utility of this tracer. The low cost of this technique will greatly help the development of SNB in LMIC Refernces: 1. Bellanger M, Zeinomar N, Tehranifar P, Terry MB. Are Global Breast Cancer Incidence and Mortality Patterns Related to Country-Specific Economic Development and Prevention Strategies? JGO. 8 juin 2018;(4):1-16. 2. Srivastava A, Suresh J, Ranjan P, et al: Fluorescent fluorescein with methylene blue compared to radioactive sulphur colloid with methylene blue: a randomised comparison. Proc SABCS 2017; abstr PD2-03. 3. Srivastava A, Kumar C,Kataria K fluorescence guided breast conserving surgery Proc SABCS 2018 PD 08 06 4. Chang YW, Lee HY, Lee CM, Jung SP, Kim WY, Woo SU, et al. Sentinel lymph node detection using fluorescein and blue light-emitting diodes in patients with breast carcinoma: A single-center prospective study. Asian Journal of Surgery [Internet]. 20 mars 2019. Citation Format: Remy Jacques Salmon, Mehdi Benna. Sentinel node biopsy mapping using fluoresceine in breast cancer. An alternative for low and middle income countries [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-02-18.

Guidance on prevention of unintended and accidental radiation exposures in nuclear medicine

Nuclear medicine (NM) procedures for diagnosis and treatment of disease are performed routinely in hospitals throughout the world. These involve preparation and administration to patients of pharmaceuticals labelled with radioactive material. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Health Organisation highlighted the need for improvement in prevention of medical radiation incidents and accidents in the Bonn Call-for-Action in 2012. An IAEA Technical Meeting was held on prevention of unintended exposures and accidents in NM in 2018 to address the issue. Exposures can take place at any time when radioactive material is being produced and used, and the risk continues after procedures have been completed. Thus there is potential for staff or members of the general public to be exposed, as well as patients. This paper sets out guidelines for incident prevention based on presentations and discussions at the meeting, and review of reports from the literature. It deals with potential incidents in in-house radionuclide production, radiopharmaceutical preparation, administration to patients, and following a procedure, as well as aspects in management of radioactive materials. Special attention has been paid to therapeutic procedures, as these have the potential to cause more harm to patients from erroneous administrations, including tissue reactions from extravasation of radiopharmaceutical, and could lead to significant contamination events. Administration of NM therapy is generally contraindicated in pregnancy. Identification of any patient who may be pregnant is crucial and it might be necessary to verify this with a pregnancy test for patients within the age band considered to be fertile. Inclusion of NM therapy incidents in the IAEA automated reporting system SAFRON is recommended. In summary, the paper aims to highlight errors that could occur during different phases of NM procedures in order to aid prevention of incidents. The value of periodic audit in evaluating systems in place on a regular basis is emphasised. Approaches to incident investigation and follow-up are described, and the need to ensure corrective action is taken to address any deficiencies stressed.

Activities and prospects of the Radioactive Materials Management Laboratory at the NCSR “Demokritos”

The Radioactive Materials Management Laboratory (RMML) was established in July 2013. The RMML is the sole laboratory in the country that holds the know-how in all the fields of radioactive waste management and decommissioning of nuclear facilities.The challenge for the Laboratory is the prospect of development of the Centralized Infrastructure of the country for Radioactive Waste at the NCSR D.

Potential for recycling of slightly radioactive metals arising from decommissioning within nuclear sector in Slovakia

The decommissioning of nuclear installations represents a complex process resulting in the generation of large amounts of waste materials containing various concentrations of radionuclides. Selection of an appropriate strategy of management of the mentioned materials strongly influences the effectiveness of decommissioning process keeping in mind safety, financial and other relevant aspects. In line with international incentives for optimization of radioactive material management, concepts of recycling and reuse of materials are widely discussed and applications of these concepts are analysed. Recycling of some portion of these materials within nuclear sector (e.g. scrap metals or concrete rubble) seems to be highly desirable from economical point of view and may lead to conserve some disposal capacity. However, detailed safety assessment along with cost/benefit calculations and feasibility study should be developed in order to prove the safety, practicality and cost effectiveness of possible recycling scenarios.Paper discussed the potential for recycling of slightly radioactive metals arising from decommissioning of NPPs within nuclear sector in Slovakia. Various available recycling scenarios are introduced and method for overall assessment of various recycling scenarios is outlined including the preliminary assessment of safety and financial aspects.

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ ПРОБЛЕМ ОБРАЩЕНИЯ С РАДИОАКТИВНЫМИ МАТЕРИАЛАМИ В РАМКАХ ПРОГРАММЫ МЕЖДУНАРОДНОГО ЭНЕРГЕТИЧЕСКОГО АГЕНТСТВА ПО ВОПРОСАМ ЭКОЛОГИИ, БЕЗОПАСНОСТИ И ЭКОНОМИКИ ТЕРМОЯДЕРНОЙ ЭНЕРГИИ

Some results of the collaborative studies organized by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in the area of technological problems of the fusion radioactive materials management following the withdrawing of replaceable components from the fusion facilities and de-commissioning of these facilities are addressed in this paper. Key issues include clearance conditions, hands-on and remote recycling procedures, radioactive fusion material hazard assessment, and detritiation of activated materials. To broaden the options for fusion de-velopment, researchers examined five potentially alternative high-Z materials: zirconium, niobium, molybdenum, hafnium, and tantalum from four standpoints: neutron-induced activation, sputter erosion/redeposition, plasma transient response and recycling possibility.

Study on Radioactive Material Management Plan and Environmental Analysis of Water (I) Study of Radioactive Substances in Water Management and Analysis to Eat of the US Environmental Protection Agency (Envirionmental Protection Agency)

Study on Radioactive Material Management Plan and Environmental Analysis of Water (I) Study of Radioactive Substances in Water Management and Analysis to Eat of the US Environmental Protection Agency (Envirionmental Protection Agency)

Classification Methodology for Tritiated Waste Requiring Interim Storage

Fusion machines like the ITER experimental research facility will use tritium as fuel. Therefore, most of the solid radioactive waste will result not only from activation by 14 MeV neutrons, but also from contamination by tritium. As a consequence, optimizing the treatment process for waste containing tritium (tritiated waste) is a major challenge.This paper summarizes the studies conducted in France within the framework of the French national plan for the management of radioactive materials and waste. The paper recommends a reference program for managing this waste based on its sorting, treatment and packaging by the producer. It also recommends setting up a 50-year temporary storage facility to allow for tritium decay and designing future disposal facilities using tritiated radwaste characteristics as input data.This paper first describes this waste program and then details an optimized classification methodology which takes into account tritium decay over a 50-year storage period. The paper also describes a specific application for purely tritiated waste and discusses the set-up expected to be implemented for ITER decommissioning waste (current assumption).Comparison between this optimized approach and other viable detritiation techniques will be drawn.

Remediation of TENORM residues: risk communication in practice

Despite several decades of studies on the risk assessment and risk perception of ionising radiation, risk management of radioactive materials remains a challenging issue. This is also true for wastes containing technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials. The present work focuses on the underlying reasons for communication problems between experts and affected members of the public. Exploring the case of a German remediation site with residual radioactive contamination in a residential area, the experts’ as well as the residents’ perspectives were studied by conducting qualitative interviews. Our results indicate a variety of reasons for communication problems on different levels of risk management and risk communication: the regulatory, the communicative and the moral levels. In the observed case, four salient causes for problems in risk communication and risk management emerged: the mismatch in understanding the residents’ values, the issue of risk communication in an unforeseen situation, the problem of the regulatory gap between radiation protection and soil protection in regard to legacies with naturally occurring radioactive material in Germany, and the challenge of communicating a highly complex scientific issue to non-scientists. Moreover, one (at least partial) solution could be seen: the introduction of an external mediator. The results indicate that coordination of different health and environment protection disciplines—in this case radiation protection relating to soil protection—is possible and urgently needed. The opportunity to put, at least natural, radioactive material in line with other conventional industrial materials should be taken.

Gestión de materiales y residuos radiactivos en la Universidad de Tübingen, Alemania

<p class="p1">Un material radiactivo es toda sustancia o átomo que emite radiaciones ionizantes y no ionizantes; la radiactividad puede ser natural, artificial o inducida. La radiactividad se utiliza en el mundo en ramas de la ciencia como ecología, medicina, agricultura, industria, biología y química. En Costa Rica se usan materiales radiactivos en campos de aplicación industrial, médica y universitaria. Las fuentes radiactivas van desde las de muy baja radiactividad hasta las de muy alta actividad, por ejemplo, Am<span class="s1">241 </span>y Ra<span class="s1">226</span>, utilizadas en centros universitarios costarricenses. No obstante, si los materiales radiactivos no se manipulan correctamente, pueden tener efectos negativos en la salud y el medio ambiente, por lo tanto es necesario tomar medidas preventivas y protectoras. Costa Rica regula el uso de materiales radiactivos mediante el Decreto Ejecutivo Nº 24037-S., sin embargo, no existe formalmente un plan nacional de manejo y eso limita su gestión en las instituciones donde se utilizan y por ende el tratamiento y disposición final de los residuos. El presente trabajo de investigación analiza la gestión en materiales radiactivos que realiza el Laboratorio de Isotopos y Protección Radiológica de la Universidad de Tübingen, Alemania, mediante la determinación y análisis de diferentes acciones y datos relacionados con 1) aspectos administrativos (manuales, protocolos, normativas) y 2) aspectos técnico-operativos (control de la contaminación, infraestructura, equipos y materiales de seguridad, tratamiento de residuos). La información se recopiló y analizó mediante herramientas como cuestionarios, listas de chequeo, entrevistas, visitas de inspección, sesiones de trabajo y revisión de documentos.</p>

Radiation impact of very low level radioactive steel reused in motorway tunnel constructions

*Considerable amount of radioactive materials arising from decommissioning of nuclear power plants may be classified as very low level radioactive waste. Various types of mentioned radioactive materials were analyzed in several international documents devoted to the optimization of radioactive material management with emphasis on concepts of recycling and reuse. One of these concepts of optimization is the conditional clearance of materials with their subsequent recycling and reuse in industrial sector. The concept of conditional clearance of radioactive materials into the environment follows international recommendations derived from the principles that the individual effective dose received by critical individual must not exceed some tens of μSv/yr. This paper deals with the radiation impact of recycling and reuse of conditionally cleared steel in industrial sector, specifically in motorway tunnel constructions. Scenario of the reuse of radioactive steel in form of reinforcing mesh and bars was created based on the data acquired from current motorway building practice in the Slovak Republic. The aim of the paper is to assess the radiation impact and to justify new specific clearance levels for radionuclides contained in steel reinforcement components in order to clear and reuse maximum amount of very low level radioactive steel considering mentioned dose criterion.

Development of the Nirex Generic Transport Safety Assessment to Assist in the Provision Advice of Waste Packaging

AbstractThe current Nirex mission is to provide the United Kingdom with safe, environmentally sound and publicly acceptable options for the long-term management of radioactive materials. As part of this role, Nirex has developed a phased deep geological disposal concept which is defined by six ‘generic documents’ that describe systems, processes and safety assessments that are not specific to anyone location or geology. These generic documents give access to detailed information about the ideas and approaches that underpin the phased disposal concept, and have been published with an invitation to enter into dialogue with Nirex regarding these issues. The generic documents identify the requirements for an integrated transport system that would be necessary for the management of the intermediate-level (ILW) and low-level (LLW) wastes within Nirex's remit — the so-called reference case volume. This has involved Nirex in the development of transport hardware and associated safety reports and modelling and ass...