Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PREDIS (PRE-DISposal management of radioactive waste)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-09-01 bis 2023-02-28
PRE-DISposal management of radioactive waste – PREDIS project brings together expertise and innovation from leading researchers in nuclear technologies to form a programme underpinned by ambition and excellence and that can effectively develop new methods, processes, technologies and demonstrators for the pre-disposal treatment of nuclear waste. It will benefit many Member States and will further the case for the development of nuclear as a vital part of the low carbon energy mix and position member states to take take global decommissioning opportunities.
The project brings together parties having common objectives and enthusiasm to work together towards implementing these innovations. The consortium consists of Research Entities (REs), Technical Support Organisations (TSOs), Radioactive Waste Producers (RWP), and Waste Management Organisations (WMOs). The project has close synergy with the co-fund project NFRP-2018-6 European Joint Program on Radioactive Waste Management (EURAD, Project #847593) running 2019–2024, with the aim to reinforce the scope of pre-disposal of the EJP SRA by involving waste producers for preparation of the future integration in EJP on waste management. Complementary engagement is also taking place with other existing and emerging networks of international parties, including SNE-TP (Nugenia), IGD-TP, SITEX, EuradScience, IAEA, NEA and multiple EC-funded projects.
The project has a high priority towards impact and uptake by industry, and thus the principle of joint co-funding by industry is applied so that national level support is supplementing the requested EC contribution.
The high-level, overall objectives of PREDIS project are to:
- Develop solutions (methods, processes, technologies and demonstrators) for future treatment and conditioning across a number of MSs of waste for which no or inadequate solutions are currently available, in order to avoid construction of new storage on sites
- or improve existing solutions with safer, cheaper or more effective alternative processes if they bring measurable benefits to several MSs
- Analyse criteria, parameters and specifications for materials and packages with associated Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) for predisposal and disposal activities.
These high-level objectives will be met by the project having specific objectives:
- Applying multi-disciplinary and multi-scale scientific approaches to demonstrate technical, economic and environmental feasibility of the new solutions;
- Addressing project drivers from the end users’ points-of-view;
- Fostering deeper cooperation between experts from many EU Member-states and across generations;
- Training new experts in the field of predisposal waste management technologies;
- Updating and revising predisposal guiding documents (vision, SRA, roadmap, governance and deployment mechanisms), together with the EURAD EJP executive bodies.
The project brings together parties having common objectives and enthusiasm to work together towards implementing these innovations. The consortium consists of Research Entities (REs), Technical Support Organisations (TSOs), Radioactive Waste Producers (RWP), and Waste Management Organisations (WMOs). The project has close synergy with the co-fund project NFRP-2018-6 European Joint Program on Radioactive Waste Management (EURAD, Project #847593) running 2019–2024, with the aim to reinforce the scope of pre-disposal of the EJP SRA by involving waste producers for preparation of the future integration in EJP on waste management. Complementary engagement is also taking place with other existing and emerging networks of international parties, including SNE-TP (Nugenia), IGD-TP, SITEX, EuradScience, IAEA, NEA and multiple EC-funded projects.
The project has a high priority towards impact and uptake by industry, and thus the principle of joint co-funding by industry is applied so that national level support is supplementing the requested EC contribution.
The high-level, overall objectives of PREDIS project are to:
- Develop solutions (methods, processes, technologies and demonstrators) for future treatment and conditioning across a number of MSs of waste for which no or inadequate solutions are currently available, in order to avoid construction of new storage on sites
- or improve existing solutions with safer, cheaper or more effective alternative processes if they bring measurable benefits to several MSs
- Analyse criteria, parameters and specifications for materials and packages with associated Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) for predisposal and disposal activities.
These high-level objectives will be met by the project having specific objectives:
- Applying multi-disciplinary and multi-scale scientific approaches to demonstrate technical, economic and environmental feasibility of the new solutions;
- Addressing project drivers from the end users’ points-of-view;
- Fostering deeper cooperation between experts from many EU Member-states and across generations;
- Training new experts in the field of predisposal waste management technologies;
- Updating and revising predisposal guiding documents (vision, SRA, roadmap, governance and deployment mechanisms), together with the EURAD EJP executive bodies.
As continuation from the first project year, PREDIS excelled in the progress. All the deliverables and milestones during the reporting period were completed: 6 deliverables and 20 milestones. Significant advancements were made in all work packages. Active collaboration with partners, stakeholders and End User Group was led by the coordinator. In Strategic Implementation, the updated Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) was drafted. Mobility and training activities and input to EURAD Roadmap were active in the Knowledge management. The technical work took speed after first year’s gap analysis in the technical work packages. In The project is on schedule, on budget and on track for delivery of outcomes.
PREDIS organised has organised five whole consortium meetings with active participation of all partners. The End User Group members and relevant stakeholders have shown high engagement by participating both the exclusive EUG workshops, public stakeholder sessions and webinars arranged by the project. The stakeholder session and six webinars have reached an audience of over 2000 audience in total.
The work performed to reach the project targets during the first 2.5 years of the project presented by some of the key results:
Diverse dissemination of the project results for the project partners, end-users, other stakeholders and wider public audience. PREDIS has published five newsletters, one position paper; and two press releases have been published. PREDIS project has organised three workshops with End User Group (EUG) engagement and 14 public webinars, often jointly with EURAD, other EU projects and with invited speakers from the IAEA and industry. The technical work packages have presented their achievements in PREDIS Workshops 2021 and 2022. Proceedings of the presentations, and publications are published in PREDIS website (https://predis-h2020.eu/publications-and-reports/).
PREDIS organised has organised five whole consortium meetings with active participation of all partners. The End User Group members and relevant stakeholders have shown high engagement by participating both the exclusive EUG workshops, public stakeholder sessions and webinars arranged by the project. The stakeholder session and six webinars have reached an audience of over 2000 audience in total.
The work performed to reach the project targets during the first 2.5 years of the project presented by some of the key results:
Diverse dissemination of the project results for the project partners, end-users, other stakeholders and wider public audience. PREDIS has published five newsletters, one position paper; and two press releases have been published. PREDIS project has organised three workshops with End User Group (EUG) engagement and 14 public webinars, often jointly with EURAD, other EU projects and with invited speakers from the IAEA and industry. The technical work packages have presented their achievements in PREDIS Workshops 2021 and 2022. Proceedings of the presentations, and publications are published in PREDIS website (https://predis-h2020.eu/publications-and-reports/).
From the project start till now, April 2023, the strong foundation on scientific and technological development towards project objectives has been realised into research and development activities. Despite of the COVID pandemic, PREDIS project has taken advantage of digital domain and has had active communication and cooperation within and cross-work packages, hence enabling efficient progress of work.
The expected main results and impacts until the end of the project are listed below.
- Foster deeper cooperation between experts from many EU Member-states and across generations
- Training new experts in the field of pre-disposal waste management technologies
- Updating and revising predisposal guiding documents
In strategic implementation e.g.:
- Providing practical guidance on waste form qualification processes and on formulating generic waste acceptance criteria applicable for storage and disposal.
- Identifying of future innovation needs based on end user challenges and opportunities, this will focus research and innovation actions
In knowledge management e.g.:
- Integration of radioactive waste generators, waste managers, training organisations, research institutions and experts in knowledge management from countries in very different state of technological development.
- Alignment of the training programme with the needs of the pre-disposal industry and activities
In innovations for metallic waste e.g.:
- Making problematic metallic waste management routes safer and more economically efficient.
- Promoting the harmonisation of European regulation including WACs.
In innovations for radioactive liquid organic waste (RLOW) e.g.:
- Availability of a treatment and conditioning process for RLOW developed up to TRL 6 and
- a set of experimental and technical data demonstrating the performances of the final waste materials in long-term storage and disposal conditions.
In innovations for solid organic waste e.g.:
- Increase the confidence about the long-term stability of the reconditioned wastes exposed to the ultimate repository environment and
- the confidence of all stakeholders that the nuclear industry has at its disposition mature technologies for the treatment and solidification of problematic wastes
In innovation for cemented waste packages and monitoring e.g.:
- More versatile and reliable condition monitoring technologies, which have been demonstrated on operating radioactive facilities and made available to end users
- Increased safety: reduction of exposure time to personnel connected to remediation activities, reduction of risk of RN dispersion, gaining local stakeholder trust
The expected main results and impacts until the end of the project are listed below.
- Foster deeper cooperation between experts from many EU Member-states and across generations
- Training new experts in the field of pre-disposal waste management technologies
- Updating and revising predisposal guiding documents
In strategic implementation e.g.:
- Providing practical guidance on waste form qualification processes and on formulating generic waste acceptance criteria applicable for storage and disposal.
- Identifying of future innovation needs based on end user challenges and opportunities, this will focus research and innovation actions
In knowledge management e.g.:
- Integration of radioactive waste generators, waste managers, training organisations, research institutions and experts in knowledge management from countries in very different state of technological development.
- Alignment of the training programme with the needs of the pre-disposal industry and activities
In innovations for metallic waste e.g.:
- Making problematic metallic waste management routes safer and more economically efficient.
- Promoting the harmonisation of European regulation including WACs.
In innovations for radioactive liquid organic waste (RLOW) e.g.:
- Availability of a treatment and conditioning process for RLOW developed up to TRL 6 and
- a set of experimental and technical data demonstrating the performances of the final waste materials in long-term storage and disposal conditions.
In innovations for solid organic waste e.g.:
- Increase the confidence about the long-term stability of the reconditioned wastes exposed to the ultimate repository environment and
- the confidence of all stakeholders that the nuclear industry has at its disposition mature technologies for the treatment and solidification of problematic wastes
In innovation for cemented waste packages and monitoring e.g.:
- More versatile and reliable condition monitoring technologies, which have been demonstrated on operating radioactive facilities and made available to end users
- Increased safety: reduction of exposure time to personnel connected to remediation activities, reduction of risk of RN dispersion, gaining local stakeholder trust