Free release measurement - engineering, innovation, implementation

The lack of radioactive waste characterization on nuclear sites produces a negative effect upon the safety of storage and economic efficiency of radioactive waste (RW) management. The routine operation and decommissioning of nuclear facilities creates a great amount of various materials that have to be removed from the site. Part of these materials can be released into the environment without the necessity of their long-term disposal at the repositories. The dismantlers face the problem of choosing an efficient method of measurement of these materials to have reliable information on waste characteristics. Errors in waste characterization may result in producing waste packages which do not comply with the waste acceptance criteria for disposal. The great increase of disposal costs encouraged the development of the effective Free Release Measurement (FRM) procedures to minimize the RW volumes. In many European countries the reporting forms sent from NPPs and RW management facilities to the regulatory authorities very often fail to provide sufficient information for the well-grounded conclusions and decisions for planning any long-term RW management programs, and are often useless for analysis of the current waste management system. The demand for FRM equipment and technologies is increasing due to the growing number of nuclear power facilities being decommissioned. This has revealed the necessity for an effective complex solution for RW management and characterization, including measuring systems and analytical software. The Czech company, ENVINET a.s., one of the most successful equipment suppliers to the nuclear industry in Europe, is directly engaged in developing innovative solutions for RW characterization and free release measurement. Successful FRM solutions enables companies to optimize the RW storage filling, as well as allowing them to reduce costs and withdraw non-radioactive waste from the circulation. ENVINET specialists have developed a new type of FRM system, 'MUM', that provides the most precise measurements at very low activity. The development was based on the company's know-how - shielding of an advanced design. This new heavy metal-free shielding material allows the low activity measurement to be taken. As well, it is environment friendly and could significantly decrease the cost compared to the lead shielding method. (author)