A Contribution to the Safe Management of Radioactive Wastes
Creators: name: Read, David
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2023

description: The research described below addresses the storage and disposal of radioactive wastes, arising
description: mainly from the nuclear power industry. The United Kingdom built the world’s first civil
description: reactor and nuclear power currently provides ~15% of the country’s electricity. Generating
description: capacity has decreased in recent years but concerns over energy security have prompted plans
description: to drastically increase production in the coming decades via investment in both large (1.6 GW)
description: and small (&lt;500 MW) scale plants; the first of these are now under construction (Hinckley C)
description: or at the advanced planning stage (Sizewell C).<br>
description: <br>
description: Over the years, opponents of new nuclear build have focussed on the industry’s poor record of
description: waste management and accountability. Operations over seven decades have led to a highly
description: variable inventory of accumulated wastes together with legacy contaminated infrastructure
description: requiring decommissioning. The cost of remediating the UK’s civil nuclear sites has been
description: estimated at £132 billion, the highest proportion of which is associated with Sellafield in
description: Cumbria and its role in developing the independent nuclear deterrent. Indeed, simply managing
description: this large and complex site, which no longer produces electricity or reprocesses fuel, requires
description: approximately £3 billion per annum. Similar challenges are faced by other countries, though
description: few on the scale of the UK. Those that do include the United States, the Russian Federation
description: and France, owing to a combination of their large civil and defence programmes.<br>
description: <br>
description: All forms of commercial energy generation produce waste and the nuclear industry is not
description: unique in this regard; however, the extent to which other industries, notably the production and
description: combustion of fossil fuels and exploitation of mineral resources, give rise to substantial
description: volumes of radioactive waste is much less widely appreciated. Indeed, the volumes created
description: each year dwarf those produced by the nuclear sector. As with nuclear wastes, they require
description: careful handling and disposal to limit public exposures and their impact on the wider
description: environment. ‘Cradle to grave’ risk assessments and new radioactive waste treatment facilities
description: devised by the author have underpinned a number of successful land remediation programmes
description: and contributed to the creation of a sustainable village in Cornwall.<br>
description: <br>
description: The author has been closely involved in assessing the radiological risks posed by both
description: nuclear and industrial radioactive wastes over the past 40 years. Throughout this time he has
description: sought to improve our scientific understanding of the key processes involved in radionuclide
description: release from containment systems and their migration through natural and man-made
description: barriers. Regulatory requirements governing future disposals stipulate annual individual risk
description: targets for which predictive models are used to extrapolate over long timescales. Evidence
description: in support of these models is then drawn from a wide range of disciplines, with chemistry
description: playing a central role, allowing more robust and defensible models of repository evolution.
description: Advances in analytical techniques, experimental procedures and computational methods
description: developed to reduce uncertainty in predictions are highlighted, focussing on three key areas:
description: waste-form degradation, performance of (primarily) cementitious barriers and interactions
description: with the host rock. Evidence in support of their impact on industry, regulators, national
description: governments, and supranational bodies, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency
description: (IAEA), OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the European Commission (EC) is
description: provided. These include increased focus and investment in fundamental nuclear research and
description: optimised protocols for radioactive waste disposition, thereby extending the operational
description: lifetime of existing facilities.<br>