EURAD - D9.11 Report presenting the results of the workshop dealing with possible conditioning routes for SIMS

The objective of Task 5 (“RWM solutions for small amounts of waste”) is, among others, to evaluate both predisposal and disposal strategies for small inventory member states (SIMS). SIMS have small amounts of wastes from different origins, and their RWM strategies are not advanced.
This second deliverable of Task 5 focuses on the necessary predisposal routes including pre-treatment, treatment and conditioning of RAW for the disposal options for SIMS. The aim of this report is to compile the existing knowledge, shared during the workshop in January 2022 (month 32 of EURAD) of this subtask. For the disposal options discussed in Task 5.1 and published in Deliverable D9.10 of the EURAD project [1], the applicability of the predisposal routes discussed in this report were evaluated. This deliverable D9.11 was complemented with information provided by the participants after the workshop. The detailed methodology applied for this report is presented in Chapter 2.
In Chapter 3, the different distinct pre-disposal steps are described independent of waste types. This detailed introduction of the pre-disposal steps includes five different pre-treatment methods, four different treatment methods and four different conditioning methods. Each section presenting one of these methods includes a definition, the aim of the methods, advantages and disadvantages as well as examples of current applications in different member states (MS). Discussions on the techniques showed that often, for small amounts of waste, facilities are not feasible because of their cost. This shows the importance of shared and/or mobile facilities for SIMS. Examples for this are incineration (where shared solutions are available) and compaction (shared or mobile facilities) but also in-drum drying. Discussions on the pre-disposal steps showed that, when resources (regarding available facilities, financial and staff-wise) for pre-disposal and disposal are as limited as they are for SIMS, re-use, recycling and reduction of the generated waste is even higher. This is even more so for the challenging waste types discussed in the following chapter.
Within Chapter 4, waste type specific predisposal routes for available disposal options are presented. These are discussed for six selected waste types, namely: concrete wastes, disused sealed radioactive sources (DSRS), spent ion exchange resins (SIERs), spent fuel from research reactors, U/Ra/Th (URT) bearing wastes and hazardous wastes. The facility type options for on surface (only long-term interim storage falls under this category), near surface disposal and geological disposal are evaluated. Long-term interim storage though can only be seen as a disposal option if the waste is clearable afterward the foreseen storage period.
In the last chapter, Chapter 5, all information on RWM on the six selected waste types presented in the previous chapters are amalgamated, including waste type definition and inventories, possible predisposal routes and disposal options, as well as implications of the disposal option selection on qualifications of the predisposal routes. If applicable, additional information of specifications on RWM for the discussed waste type are added. During the workshop in January 2022, these management path for the six selected waste types were discussed with attending SIMS and large inventory member states (LIMS). This last chapter summarises the results of these discussions during the workshop and was completed by information provided by participants after the workshop.