CoRWM visits the Waste Treatment Complex at Sellafield
In July, members of CoRWM visited the Waste Treatment Complex at Sellafield.
On 13 July 2023, 5 members of CoRWM visited the Waste Treatment Complex and the Engineered Drum Stores at the Sellafield site. These facilities process and store plutonium contaminated material (PCM). This waste is categorised as intermediate level radioactive waste and has been generated over many decades.
The visit provided an opportunity for CoRWM members to gain an understanding of the preparation of PCM for disposal in a geological disposal facility.
Members were shown the drums containing the waste which is currently awaiting assay, the process by which the radioactive content is measured. They were also shown the compaction facility in which the drums are size reduced and placed in a waste container which is grouted and sealed for interim storage. Members also observed the completed containers which will wait for several decades before disposal in a geological disposal facility.
The facilities are designed and operated to provide safe and secure interim storage, in line with CoRWM’s advice to government, and are regulated by the Office for Nuclear Regulation. The facilities have been in active operation since 1997 and may continue to operate for many decades. There is however work ongoing to determine whether it is possible to adopt a thermal treatment process for immobilisation of this waste as an alternative to the compaction and cementation process that is used in the Waste Treatment complex.
In the afternoon session CoRWM was provided information on recent developments in the NDA approach to integrated waste management and on the Higher Activity Waste Thermal Treatment programme.
The developments in integrated waste management presented to CORWM are a result of NDA reorganisation which has created conditions for greater collaboration between its constituent organisations. CoRWM recognises that the integrated waste management programme, created in Nuclear Waste Services, has the potential to develop a more coherent approach to waste management by identifying opportunities for implementation across the whole of NDA. CoRWM will continue to monitor this work as it reviews its position on interim storage of waste.
The Higher Activity Waste Thermal Treatment programme was created to evaluate the potential for the implementation of thermal treatment to prepare various waste streams for disposal. The programme has drawn on more than a decade of research and development to assess the value and viability of the method for different waste streams and is currently preparing information for a series of decisions on whether to implement thermal treatment on an industrial scale. CoRWM will continue to monitor this programme of work which has considerable potential for improving the effectiveness of the treatment of PCM and other major higher activity waste streams.