Strategic Guidance on the Management of LLW and ILW / LLW ...

LLW Repository LtdNational Waste ProgrammeNWP/REP/011Issue 2.1 – Jan 2013Page 8 of 581. IntroductionPond furniture – the metallic architecture used for the wet storage of irradiated fuel – is aubiquitous wasteform across the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) estate. It is acomplex wasteform from a waste management perspective due to its variability in type,physical geometry and radiological characteristics.Despite its ubiquity and its importance as a source of a significant volume of metallicwaste, pond furniture has not previously been considered in a national strategic context;for example, neither the National LLW Strategy [Ref. 1] or the <strong>Strategic</strong> Best PracticableEnvironmental Options (BPEO) assessment for metallic waste [Ref. 2, 3] specificallyreference pond furniture, instead focussing on radioactive metals as a whole. It isacknowledged that significant work has been undertaken by SLCs and the supply chain informulating, trialling and implementing waste management approaches for thiswastestream; however, the outputs of this work has not typically been widelydisseminated beyond individual organisations. This historical lack of knowledge transferand learning from experience has contributed to duplication of effort and, in some cases,implementation of non-optimised waste management strategies.This report intends to provide the first cross-NDA estate compilation of inventory data andwaste management approaches specifically for pond furniture, with the intent of providingan effective vehicle for the transfer of knowledge – particularly good practice, lessonslearned and innovation – across the NDA estate. It should be noted that this strategicguidance is not intended to supplant any existing, or developing, SLC or specific sitestrategies for the management of LLW, ILW / LLW cross-boundary wastes, ILW or pondfurniture; but rather seeks to augment any such local strategies and to provide anadditional tool to support waste practitioners in informed and underpinned decisionmaking.This document has been developed in collaboration with the NDA-estate SLCs and thesupply chain. Inventory information presented in this document is extracted from UKRWI2010, with additional validation of the data by the SLCs. The compilation of wastemanagement approaches has been derived using information submitted by SLCs and thesupply chain, supported where appropriate by literature review. Similarly, identification ofcross-estate issues and opportunities relating to the management of pond furniture hasbeen derived based on information provided by the SLCs.It is intended that this compilation shall be periodically reviewed to take account ofchanges in waste inventory, strategy, management approaches and technology; so as toensure that this document remains current and fit-for-purpose.A company owned by UK Nuclear Waste Management LtdNOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED