Tome Architecture and management of a geological repository - Andra

5 – B waste repository zoneThe packages containing metallic and organic waste weigh 90 kilograms on average (excluding wasteimmobilisation material). They do not transfer heat and are not irradiating. Hydrogen release fromradiolysis of the organic matter should be taken into account.The packages containing the metallic technological waste do not transfer heat nor produce gas. Theirirradiation level is around 0.05 Sv/h, becoming around 0.02 Sv/h by 2025. The finished packagesweigh 240 kilograms on average, excluding waste immobilisation material.Table 5.1.4 summarises the principal characteristics of the three sub-assemblies of the cladding andtechnological waste packages..Table 5.1.4Summary of the characteristics of the cladding and technological waste placedin drumsPackage subassemblyOverallpackagevolume (m 3 )Presence ofmetallicwastePresence oforganicwasteProduction ofgas byradiolysis(H 2 )Thermicity, irradiationlevel when packagesproduced1 0.175 x None None Packages do not transferheat, only slightly irradiating2 0.428 x None None Nil or average thermicity,average or high irradiationlevel depending on packages3 0.428 x x x Packages do not transferheat and are not irradiating5.1.6 SourcesThis waste groups PWR source rods and sealed sources for industrial use.Source rods are operating waste from PWR reactors, similar to the variety of active metallic wastedescribed in paragraph 5.1.1. Forming part of the rods contained in the primary and secondary sourceclusters, they are used to raise the flow level to a threshold that may be detected by neutron countersduring reactor start-up. Primary source rods containing a californium capsule are unloaded at the endof the first cycle, whilst secondary source rods, made up of an antimony-beryllium mixture, gothrough several irradiation cycles before being scrapped. The primary source clusters unloaded from900 MW reactors are reprocessed to recover the californium capsules and are therefore not consideredwaste (and are therefore not included in the inventory). The total weight of waste for conditioning isless than two tonnes.The conditioning hypothesis retained for the study is, like for the other PWR activated waste, shearingthen compacting of the source rods before being placed in a CSD-C container. Note that the source rodconditioning will produce a maximum of four CSD-C.The sealed sources for industrial use contain radioactive material with very different properties,activities and periods. Several thousand sources were conditioned in concrete containers between 1972and 1984, which were then reconditioned into metallic containers. The packages known as "sourceblocks" are currently stored on the CEA site at Cadarache (see Figure 5.1.14). These are hugepackages weighing between 6.0 and 9.2 tonnes.Dossier 2005 Granite - ARCHITECTURE AND MANAGEMENT OF A GEOLOGICAL REPOSITORY110/228