EURAD-2 WP STREAM Annual meeting

Réunion annuelle projet européen

EURAD-2 : A step change in European collaboration towards safe RWM, covering all phases including predisposal and disposal, through the development of a robust and sustained science, technology and knowledge management programme that supports timely implementation of RWM activities and serves to foster mutual understanding and trust between Joint Programme participants.
WP STREAM : Large amounts of waste in Europe need the implementation of management routes prior to disposal. Specifically, management routes for challenging low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste (solid (reactive metals, spent IERs, incineration ashes) or liquid (aqueous or organic)) still need to be further investigated.
Processing routes (e.g., thermal treatments) and alternative conditioning methods compared to the traditional cement-based immobilisation (e.g., geopolymers, phosphate binders) have been investigated in previous projects (EURAD, THERAMIN, PREDIS). However, these processes are not yet fully mature and need complementary studies on:
o The influence of the waste composition on the consolidation process of the conditioning matrix,
o The properties of the hardened waste forms,
o The minimization and management of secondary waste.
The impact of these novel treatment and/or conditioning routes to the safety case has also to be demonstrated to allow their implementation by end users in the future.
Besides, the evolution of the cement industry to reduce its environmental footprint will lead to progressive disappearance of binders with high clinker content (e.g., CEM I 52.5), currently used for the conditioning of certain types of radioactive waste (e.g., evaporator concentrates). The availability of supplementary cementitious materials, such as fly ash or blast-furnace slag, is also expected to decrease in the near future. Inversely, novel cements (CEM II/C-M, CEM VI, LC3, belite-calcium sulfoaluminate cements…) are under development / standardization and may offer new prospects to design cement-based matrices and backfill materials with reduced environmental impact, following the principles of circular economy. Their performances must be demonstrated to anticipate their implementation at an industrial level.
Finally, LCA and LCC analyses of the most promising processes / materials developed in STREAM WP will be carried out to guide end-users in the selection of the best treatment / conditioning strategy, considering technical, economic and environmental issues.

SITE INTERNET