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Wednesday 1 July 2009Completion of pioneering waste storage project
Dungeness A has successfully completed a project to explore the potential of a new method of temporarily storing intermediate level waste on site.
During the 20-week project rigorous testing was carried out before three MiniStore containers were filled with active resin slurry, dewatered, sealed and put into storage.
Regulatory approval from the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) has been granted for a period of 13 years storage, and not final disposal in a national repository. However, the project could provide valuable data to support a case for using up to 50 boxes for longer term storage, negating the need for a purpose-built ILW store on site and potentially saving hundreds of thousands of pounds, and possibly final disposal.
Mark England, site director, said: “This exercise is a huge step forward for UK decommissioning and has massive potential for use across the whole Magnox estate.
“This has proved to be a valuable learning experience. We’ve shown the boxes can be used safely and will continue to monitor them while they are stored in our existing reactor two blower hall building.
“Dungeness is proud to be continually pushing the boundaries and exploring innovative ways forward to progress UK decommissioning.”
The project to carry out the testing and active resin transfer harnessed the expertise of a team of Magnox staff and staff from the US parent body EnergySolutions.
Each MiniStore is made of ductile cast iron, weighs around 18 tonnes and holds up to about 2.85m3 of waste. At Dungeness the containers hold spent resin from existing storage tanks, freeing valuable space and allowing an additional ten years’ capacity adequate for the projected life of the cooling ponds.
The containers have been used extensively in Europe for 20 years, where they are certified for final disposal. Magnox South is currently working with the NDA’s Radioactive Waste Management Directorate (RWMD) and the regulators, including the NII and Environment Agency, on future potential use of the boxes.
