Encapsulation of reprocessing waste in a cement matrix

It is British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) policy to encapsulate intermediate level waste (ILW) in cement. ILW streams arising from the reprocessing of Magnox and oxide fuels at the Sellafield plant are being routed through dedicated conditioning and storage plants. An encapsulation plant for Magnox cladding wastes has been in active operation since mid 1990, and the construction of a second plant to accept waste from the THORP oxide fuel reprocessing plant is well advanced and is planed to be operational next year. This paper describes the justification for the policy of early encapsulation of ILW, and the progress being made to implement BNFL's waste management strategy. The quantified approach to ensuring that an acceptable quality product is produced in all cases is explained in detail. (author)