Retrieval of LLW and ILW from a 25 year old near surface repository

In 1970 approximately 1000 barrels of LLW and ILW were buried at the premises of the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) at Kjeller, Norway. After the process of selecting a site for LLW and ILW in Norway which started in 1989, a decision was made in the Norwegian Parliament in April 1994 that a combined storage and disposal facility should be built in Himdalen in the municipality of Aurskog-Holand in the country of Akershus. It was further decided that the near surface repository at the IFE premises should be removed and the waste barrels placed in the planned facility together with waste at present stored above ground. In order to prepare for removal of the buried barrels, the IFE has investigated the condition of the barrels and the amount of leakage of radioactive isotopes inside and outside the clay bed surrounding the near surface repository. Because of the variable condition of the buried barrels, these will be placed 4 by 4 in steel containers and fixed with cement before they are transported and placed in the Himdalen storage/repository. Investigations show that it should be possible to remove and handle the barrel by mechanical means and therefore reduce close contact with the barrels to a minimum. The total doses to individual workers are estimated to be 2-3 mSv or lower. The amount of contaminated clay is estimated to be between 60 and 100 m3. This must be monitored, sampled and treated as radioactive waste. (author). 3 refs, 1 fig., 2 tabs