Operational waste removal from Windscale advanced gas-cooled reactor (WAGR)

The Windscale advanced gas-cooled reactor (WAGR) is in the process of being decommissioned by BNFL. Prior to beginning decommissioning of the hot gas manifold (hot box) above the reactor's neutron shield and graphite core, it has first been necessary to retrieve stored operational waste in order to clear the reactor's fuel channels. Operational waste is a generic term applied to items associated with the operating reactor, such as fuel stringer plug unit components and other items more permanently resident in the reactor in the period 1963-1981. The reactor shut down in 1981. After the reactor was defuelled in the early 1980s no agreed route for intermediate-level waste disposal was available and of necessity operational wastes were stored in the reactor's fuel channels as an expedient. This paper describes some of the assay findings in terms of operational waste radioactivity levels and compares these with calculations carried out prior to decommissioning. (author)