The impact of nuclide vector composition on calculated individual effective doses of the workers during the melting of contaminated scrap metal

The decommissioning of nuclear installations is a complex process that leads to the generation of large volume metallic radioactive waste. Using suitable decontamination technology or combination of more technologies much of these valuable materials could be decontaminated and reused. One of the most modern technologies for decontamination of metallic radioactive waste is considered melting. Decontamination by melting presents a particular advantage of homogenising a number of radionuclides in the ingots and concentrating other radionuclides in the slag and dust filter resulting from the melting process, thus decontaminating the primary material. At the present there is not melting unit in operation in the Slovakia but within next few years such facility should be commissioned. The main objective of the paper is to assess the radiation impacts on the workers during the melting of radioactively contaminated scrap metal arisen from the decommissioning of nuclear installations in Slovakia. (authors)