[en] The report is included in a set of Production reports, presenting how the KBS-3 repository is designed, produced and inspected. The set of reports is included in the safety report for the KBS-3 repository and repository facility. The report provides input on the initial state of the backfill and plug in deposition tunnels for the assessment of the long-term safety, SR-Site. The initial state refers to the properties of the engineered barriers once they have been finally placed in the KBS-3 repository and will not be further handled within the repository facility. In addition, the report provides input to the operational safety report, SR-Operation, on how the backfill and plug shall be handled and installed. The report presents the design premises and reference designs of the backfill and plug in deposition tunnels and verifies their conformity to the design premises. It also describes the production of the backfill from excavation and delivery of backfill material to installation in the deposition tunnel, and gives an outline of the installation of the plug. Finally, the initial states of the backfill and plug and their conformity to the reference designs and design premises are presented

[en] Proposals for a set of provisions for long-term memory and knowledge to be defined for a radioactive waste disposal facility, near surface or deep underground, address two primary motives, related to two ethical principles. The first motive is to prevent future generations from interfering involuntarily with the repository. This requires maintaining awareness of the repository, and addresses the ethical principle of protection of man and environment. The second motive is to provide future generations all the available relevant information which might help them make informed decisions about intentional actions, and assess the consequences. This requires transmitting detailed knowledge of the repository, and addresses the ethical principle of preservation of freedom of action. The set of provisions to be implemented with respect to each of these motives may not be the same. In order to define and assess the set of provisions, it is also useful to identify the various components of the process of transmission of a given message, or set of messages, to future generations. Three sub-processes have been identified: (i) 'memorization', at the producer stage, where a full set of information to be transmitted is identified, organized and expressed; (ii) 'preservation', where the potential durability of records is extended, the preservation conditions are controlled and where the records may be restored, if their status is degraded; (iii) 'access', at the receiver stage, where the receiver has to be notified of the existence of the information, to find it and to interpret it properly. As a failure of transmission to future generations would result from the failure of any of the subprocesses, a minimal set of provisions may be defined from this decomposition. (authors)

[en] The conference paper deals with offshore contract philosophies concerning maintenance. The main philosophies of the contract should be built on the following key success factors: Safe operations and correct quality must be sustained at any time; the maintenance contractor should be viewed as a cooperation partner, not only as a supplier; optimum exploitation of learning curve effects and economies of scale. The paper illustrates the importance of each of them in a contract context with a few recommendations

[en] At the Steinbeis-Transferzentrum-Raumfahrtsysteme (TZ-RS) in cooperation with German companies and university institutes a plasma process plant was designed and build for the treatment of gaseous and liquid halogenated waste. In principle this process plant can be installed truck-based or as an end-of the-pipe plant. The plant consists of a plasma unit followed by a caustic quench-scrubber-system and a combustion chamber. In the first project step a 10-20 kW plasma source was used and experiments with 3,6 kg/h trichloroethylene as a simulating substance were carried out. As plasma source a new developed atmospheric steam plasma torch is used. Since the beginning of 1997 a plant in industrial scale is in qualification at the TZ-RS. The first results are presented in this paper. (author)

No abstract available

No abstract available

[en] Institutions involved in radioactive waste management are facing a rapidly evolving environment stemming from societal changes, including new information technologies and new roles for the media. At the same time, some national programmes are moving from research and development to site selection and implementation, while other countries are reviewing and defining their policies in the waste management area. As in many other fields in which environmental and risk considerations are involved, demand for public participation in radioactive waste management decision making calls for new approaches towards involving stakeholders. (authors)

[en] The Office of Site Closure (OSC) was formed in November 1999 when the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Environmental Management (EM) reorganized to focus specifically on site cleanup and closure. OSC's objective is to achieve safe and cost-effective cleanups and closures that are protective of our workers, the public, and the environment, now and in the future. Since its inception, OSC has focused on implementing a culture of safe closure, with emphasis in three primary areas: complete our responsibility for the Closure Sites Rocky Flats, Mound, Fernald, Ashtabula, and Weldon Spring; complete our responsibility for cleanup at sites where the DOE mission has been completed (examples include Battelle King Avenue and Battelle West Jefferson in Columbus, and General Atomics) or where other Departmental organizations have an ongoing mission (examples include the Brookhaven, Livermore, or Los Alamos National Laboratories, and the Nevada Test Site); and create a framework a nd develop specific business closure tools that will help sites close, such as guidance for and decisions on post-contract benefit liabilities, records retention, and Federal employee incentives for site closure. This paper discusses OSC's 2001 progress in achieving site cleanups, moving towards site closure, and developing specific business closure tools to support site closure. It describes the tools used to achieve progress towards cleanup and closure, such as the application of new technologies, changes in contracting approaches, and the development of agreements between sites and with host states. The paper also identifies upcoming challenges and explores options for how Headquarters and the sites can work together to address these challenges. Finally, it articulates OSC's new focus on oversight of Field Offices to ensure they have the systems in place to oversee contractor activities resulting in site cleanups and closures

[en] Within the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (EM), the Office of Science and Technology (OST) identifies and develops innovative technologies that accelerate cleanup of high-priority environmental contamination problems and enable EM closure sites to meet closure schedules. OST manages an integrated research and development program that is essential to completing timely and cost-effective cleanup and stewardship of DOE sites. While innovative technologies can make significant contributions to the cleanup process, in some cases, EM has encountered unexpected barriers to their implementation. Technical obstacles are expected, but administrative challenges-such as regulatory, organizational, and stakeholder issues-must also be addressed. OST has found that collaborative needs identification and problem solving are essential components in overcoming these barriers. Collaboration helps EM meet its cleanup goals, close sites, and reduce the overall cost of cleanup at DOE sites nationwide. This paper presents examples of OST's collaboration efforts that expedite site closure and solve specific cleanup problems at EM sites

No abstract available