Skip to main content
European Commission logo
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
CORDIS Web 30th anniversary CORDIS Web 30th anniversary
Content archived on 2024-06-18

Treatment and Disposal of Irradiated Graphite and Other Carbonaceous Waste

Objective

Gas-Cooled Reactors (GCR), RBMK and some Material Test Reactors (MTR) make use of graphite as moderator of the fuel, structures of the core and/or thermal columns. During operation, the graphite and other carbonaceous materials like carbon brick, pyrocarbon and silicon carbide coatings are contaminated by fission products and neutron activation. These irradiated carbonaceous wastes are problematic due to their content of long-lived radioisotopes (e.g. Carbon14, Chlorine 36) and due to their large volumes. About 250000 t of i-carbon are existing, worldwide. Acceptable solutions have not yet been established to handle this kind of waste. This fact also represents a significant drawback for the market introduction of graphite-moderated reactors like Very/High-Temperature Reactors (V/HTR) as a promising Generation IV system candidate. Graphite moderated reactors represent the very first generation of nuclear reactors and therefore need to be decommissioned ahead of other reactor types which evolved later. Presently, accelerated decommissioning of GCR and RBMK and subsequent disposal of i-graphite is the preferred option for not leaving this waste as a legacy for future generations. The CARBOWASTE project aims at an integrated waste management approach for this kind of radioactive wastes which are mainly characterized as Intermediate Level Waste (ILW), due to the varying content of long-lived radioisotopes. Methodologies and databases will be developed for assessing different technology options like direct disposal in adopted waste containers, treatment & purification before disposal or even recycling i-carbonaceous material for reuse in the nuclear field. The feasibility of the associated processes will be experimentally investigated to deliver data for modeling the microstructure and localization of contaminants. This is of high importance to better understand the origin of the contamination and the release mechanisms during treatment and/or disposal.

Fields of science

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Call for proposal

FP7-Fission-2007
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

CP - Collaborative project (generic)

Coordinator

FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM JULICH GMBH
EU contribution
€ 1 003 757,55
Address
WILHELM JOHNEN STRASSE
52428 Julich
Germany

See on map
Region
Nordrhein-Westfalen Köln Düren
Activity type
Research Organisations
Administrative Contact
Alexandra De Schepper (Ms.)
Links
Total cost
No data

Participants (29)

Share this page

Download

Last update: 16 July 2019

My Booklet

Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/211333

European Union, 2024