Solid Radioactive Waste Strategy Report.pdf - UK EPR

EPR UK
N° NESH-G/2008/en/0123
REV. A PAGE 33 / 257
4 CATEGORIES OF SOLID RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Radioactive waste is categorised in the UK dependent on the level of radioactivity in the waste.
These types are LLW, ILW and HLW or heat generating waste. In addition to the waste
categories listed above spent fuel is also included in the scope of this report. Further
information on the UK regulatory context for the management of spent fuel is provided below.
spent fuel is not a waste.
Most of the waste produced by the UK EPR, especially during decommissioning, will not be
radioactive. Each waste arising will be assessed in order to determine if it is exempt from
regulatory control under RSA 93 [Ref.10].
4.1 Exempt Wastes
RSA93 contains a number of Exemption Orders for waste which due to its low activity levels is
exempt from regulatory control under the Act. These exclusions or exemptions mostly require
the radioactivity concentration or specific activity of the article or substance to be below
specified values, which must be satisfied in addition to the other requirements. The Substances
of Low Activity (SoLA) Exemption Order [Ref.10] specifies that wastes containing artificial
radioactivity of less than 0.4 Bq/g, which are essentially insoluble in water, are exempt from
regulatory control under RSA93. The UK nuclear industry has produced an Industry Code of
Practice for clearance and exemption of materials and waste [Ref.22]. The Code of Practice
details the principles, processes and practices that should be used when determining whether
an article or material may be released from any further controls on the basis of radiological
protection considerations.
4.2 Very Low Level Waste
LLW containing lower levels of activity is further sub-categorised VLLW. The definitions of this
waste and disposal routes for the waste are described below.
VLLW falls into two categories these are:
· Low volume very low level solid waste (Low volume VLLW);
· High volume very low level solid waste (High volume VLLW).
Low volume VLLW is defined in reference 23 as:
‘radioactive waste which can be safely disposed of to an unspecified
destination with municipal, commercial or industrial waste. Each 0.1 m 3
of waste must contain less than 400 kilobecquerels (kBq) of total activity
or single items containing less than 40 kBq of total activity’.
For wastes containing carbon-14 or tritium:
· ‘In each 0.1 m 3 , the activity limit is 4000 kBq for carbon-14 and
tritium taken together, and,
· for any single item, the activity limit is 400 kBq for carbon-14 and
tritium taken together.
’