Lessons learned from material management at Vandellos-I

One of the essential points of Vandellos-I decommissioning project is the material strategy based on the exhaustive control of all the materials arising at the site in order to segregate those considered clean from those others that have radiological implications. The estimate amount of materials removed during stage 2 will be around 300,000 tons, including 1200 t of low and intermediate level radioactive waste which are sent to the Waste Disposal Facility at El Cabril (Cordoba). Around 2,000 t of concrete and 9,000 t of scraps both from active areas have been declassified for conventional management and recycled for other industrial uses. Under this point of view, characterisation and clearance appear as critical points in the process carried out with candidate material for management as conventional materials with or without restrictions. The Vandellos-I decommissioning project has already three authorised basic possibilities for the application of clearance of residual materials: the unconditional clearance, the generic conditional clearance and the specific conditional clearance. Different sets of radionuclide specific figures for unconditional clearance levels and for generic conditional clearance levels have already been established for some generic materials, building and concrete demolition debris among them. In order to guarantee the process a rigorous segregation and decontamination plan had put into place. The site has five controls to guarantee the complete efficiency throughout the process, which is applied to all materials. With these exhaustive controls it can be ensured that all the materials removed from the plant do not exceed the levels of activity imposed by the Spanish regulatory body. The main part the process control consists of performing integrated measurement of the containers using a sophisticated device known as the Box Counter, which analyses the radiological charge of the material contained in the as called 'Measurement and Declassification Container ' by means of a gamma spectrometry measuring system. On the basis of the experience this paper will describe the lessons learned in material management in Vandellos-I, in the areas of: - Organisation and planning; - Important role of logistics; - Capacity of the different storage areas; - Conservatism of the clearance process; - Cost/effort of Clearance process; - Recycle / Reuse; - Management and traceability of information