Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Nuclear Materials Contained in High-Level Waste at the 'SHELTER' Facility

As a result of the nuclear accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in 1986, the explosion dispersed nuclear materials contained in the nuclear fuel of the reactor core over the destroyed facilities at Unit No. 4 and over the territory immediately adjacent to the destroyed unit. The debris was buried under the Cascade Wall. Nuclear materials at the sarcophagus can be characterized as spent nuclear fuel, fresh fuel assemblies (including fuel assemblies with damaged geometry and integrity, and individual fuel elements), core fragments of the Chernobyl NPP Unit No. 4, finely-dispersed fuel (powder/dust), uranium and plutonium compounds in water solutions, and lava-like nuclear fuel-containing masses. The new safe confinement (NSC) is a facility designed to enclose the Chernobyl NPP Unit No. 4 destroyed by the accident. Construction of the NSC involves excavating operations, which are continuously monitored including for the level of radiation. The findings of such monitoring at the SHELTER site will allow us to characterize the recovered radioactive waste. When a process material categorized as high activity waste (HAW) is detected the following high level waste (HLW) management operations should be involved: HLW collection; HLW fragmentation (if appropriate); loading HAW into the primary package KT-0.2; loading the primary package filled with HAW into the transportation cask KTZV-0.2; and storing the cask in temporary storage facilities for high-level solid waste. The Chernobyl Drum Assay System (CDAS) consists of Helium-3 ( 3 He) tubes for neutron coincidence counting, and is designed to measure the percentage ratio of specific nuclear materials in a 200-liter drum containing nuclear material intermixed with a matrix. The CDAS includes panels with helium counter tubes and a polyethylene moderator. The panels are configured to allow one to position a wastecontaining drum and a drum manipulator. The system operates on the „add a source’ basis using a small Californium-252 source to identify irregularities in the matrix during an assay. The platform with the source is placed under the measurement chamber. The platform with the source material is moved under the measurement chamber. The design allows one to move the platform with the source in and out, thus moving the drum. The measurement system and radioactive waste containers have been built. For each drum filled with waste two individual measurements (passive/active) will be made. This paper briefly describes the work carried out to assess qualitatively and quantitatively the nuclear materials contained in high-level waste at the SHELTER facility. These efforts substantially increased nuclear safety and security at the facility