Extraction of resins from WD-22 tank in Jose Cabrera Nuclear Power Plant

The Spent Resin Tank (WD-22) is located in the Auxiliary Building of Jose Cabrera Nuclear Plant (PWR 150 Mwe). This tank has a nominal capacity of 4 m3 and is almost full of spent resins that has been stored from the late sixties to early eighties. As the lines are completely plugged with resins and due to the difficulties in the pipe lay-out, it has not been possible to transfer the resins to the cementation plant since that date. The plant decided, by an open bid quotation, to select the most suitable process to transfer the resins to the cementation plant avoiding the high doses existing in the tank cubicle and in a reasonable time schedule. The solution given in this paper contemplates that sometimes there is an imaginative answer to a problem that seems to be difficult to solve. (authors)