Research on the management of fuel cladding waste

Cladding waste, arising in fuel reprocessing plants, has a considerable radioactivity content including long-lived radionuclides and should, therefore, be conditioned appropriately prior to disposal. This paper gives a survey of research and development work on cladding waste characterization, decontamination and conditioning. Most of the work reported has been performed under the European Community's R and D programme on management and storage of radioactive waste, but information on other work has also been included. A wide range of conditioning methods for cladding waste has been developed to various stages, in particular: roll compaction and embedding in concrete; press compaction and embedding in a lead alloy; embedding in various other matrix materials, i.e. borosilicate glass, graphite, aluminium, alumina; special melting techniques, i.e. eutectic melting and Inductoslag melting; hot isostatic pressing; and conversion of Zircaloy to zirconia. (author)