Safety Infrastructure for Uranium & NORM Production in the - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
IAEA Technical meeting on Establishment of Regulatory Forum for Safe Management of Uranium and NORM Residues Vienna 18-22 June 2018 Safety Infrastructure for Uranium & NORM Production in the United Kingdom Country: United Kingdom
IAEA Technical meeting on Establishment of Regulatory Forum for Safe Management of Uranium and NORM Residues Vienna 18-22 June 2018
Legislation and Regulatory Framework Regulatory bodies Uranium related activities Other NORM related activities Licensing Process Management of residues, decommissioning and
Challenging issues
environmental + public protection (waste management):
health and safety at work: health and safety executive nuclear safety: office for nuclear regulation safety of consumer products safety of building materials patient protection
Regulate all waste management Specifically for radioactivity:… Issue licenses for disposal
Discharges to air, water, sewer; burial; transfer of waste to
Implement ALARA principle by requiring license holders
Use BAT to minimise waste generated Use BAT to minimise discharges to the environment Use BAT to minimise effects of discharges/disposals
Same for everyone, Nuclear, non-nuclear and NORM
Substances are captured by legislation if from a listed
For solids: 1 Bq/g except for parts of decay chain where
Some historic production of uranium at the end of the 19th
Further detail in a British Geological Survey document:
https://www.bgs.ac.uk/downloads/start.cfm?id=1409
The UK NORM Waste
Comprehensive data
Types of licenses
Exemption
No review or approval process
Registration
For specific activities where assessments Approval process is focused on capability of operator rather than
Issued in 28 days
Permit
Site specification information required – must know characteristics of
Detailed assessment Aim to issue in 4 months
Generate solid and liquid NORM wastes >100 installations offshore = >98% of UK oil and gas
How much? ~800 tonnes per year Generally 10s Bq/g can be 100s ~ 6.4 GBq Ra-226 Can contain HC’s heavy metals etc. Disposal routes:
Offshore
Directly to sea or injection
Onshore ~ 160 t containing 4 GBq Ra-226
Burial (usually following treatment) Incineration
Oil and gas decommissioning
Availability of decommissioning facilities Uncertainties of quantities of NORM Transboundary movement – lack of common controls
Impact of zero waste policies on practice of co-disposal
Is treatment always necessary – or is it just dilution Some countries now seeking to use facilities for NORM
Offshore
~ 200 million m3 per year Majority discharged to sea Some re-injected
Onshore
~ 12 million m3 per year
Unconventional gas ????
Nothing at the moment How will it be managed
During sintering process (step prior to blast furnace) Some polonium and lead released as it is volatile Significant quantities discharged (public dose trivial: a
Solid waste generated from the gas cleaning system contains Po and
1 site currently generate ~ 10 000 tonnes per year of residue
suitable for use in cement making Cement industry not interested if “radioactive waste” Issues:
“label” - sometimes the name we give to residues causes problem
Mixing - Is it acceptable to mix with other similar waste to reduce activity and
facilitate its use
Generate solid and liquid NORM waste Solid
~200 000 tonnes of residue ~ 1 Bq/g ~ 10 tonnes of filter cloths 100s Bq/g
Liquid
3-4 million m3 liquid effluent – authorised to be discharged to an
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Preparing for decommissioning Lack of harmonisation e.g. impacts transboundary
How to deal with liquids proportionately Mixing, treatment and dilution Communication and understanding / operators and public