Testing of techniques for the conditioning of fuel elements in view of direct disposal

The techniques for direct disposal of spent nuclear fuel have been studied and developed in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) since 1979. This technology was introduced as an option to the reprocessing route and to a certain extent for special fuels. A decision has been taken to construct a pilot plant in order to demonstrate the technology of conditioning of spent nuclear fuel for direct disposal. The first partial construction permit was granted in late January 1990 and covers the building itself. The second license application has been made in March, 1991 and covers the process itself as well as all subsystems and utilities. If the timeschedule is kept, hot commissioning could be possible in early 1995. With the aim to verify the feasibility of the techniques selected, several full scale test units of critical process parts have been built and operated successfully. (orig.)