Report on the radium conditioning operation in Slovenia

Spent radiation sources, especially spent radium sources, represent a waste problem for many countries. Improperly controlled and stored spent sources have caused a number of accidents. For long-lived spent sources, like 226Ra, the appropriate disposal option is deep geological repositories which, however, cannot be established for spent sources alone. It is necessary to use repositories established for high-level waste originating from the operation of nuclear power plants and to obtain permission for co-disposal of spent sources. It is expected that a long time will pass before deep repositories are established and international or bilateral agreements are achieved. Improving the safety of spent sealed sources has been on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) agenda for many year. The IAEA has taken an especially active rote to ensure the long-term safety of spent 226Ra. This report describes the radium conditioning operation of spent sealed radium sources carried out in Slovenia from June 18th - 22nd 2001, according to the IAEA purchase Order No. INT 4/131/83272 C from 2001 March 29. The aspects covered in this report are the operation itself, including preparatory work and post-operation tasks, the description of the conditioned inventory, and final remarks. The radium conditioning operation in Slovenia was carried out by a team from the Austrian Research Centers Seibersdorf, contracted by the IAEA. (author)