Methodology development for volume reduction and safe storage and disposal of low and intermediate level radioactive wastes

加拿大依靠核电提供相当大比例的清洁、无碳排放能源，在核电站的安全运行和核废料的储存方面有着令人羡慕的记录。废物目前储存在产生废物的地点，但正在制定长期储存或处置的战略。对于不包括乏核燃料的中低放射性废物(L和ILW)，安大略省发电公司计划使用深层地质库(DGR)，将废物安全地储存在地下深处的不透水岩石中。现有的L和ILW废物将被储存在储存库中，以及持续的发电厂运营和反应堆退役和翻新产生的新废物。该项目旨在通过解决两个重要方面来支持DGR的运行：需要减少储存在DGR中的废物的数量，以及需要对废物进行包装，使其能够安全高效地运输，并在DGR永久密封之前的60-100年内安全地保存在DGR中。该项目的第一部分将探索净化金属废物表面的方法，以便将放射性表面污染物从散装金属中分离出来。该项目的第二部分将调查利用地球聚合物遏制某些类型的废物。地质聚合物是一种机械坚韧的复合材料，可以从现有的工业废料中生产出来，预计将以最大限度地减少放射性成分的浸出和产生可能导致材料膨胀或破裂的气体的方式来容纳放射性废料。该项目将产生新的科学知识，使储存在DGR中的废物数量减少，并确保某些类型的废物得到更安全的控制。因此，这项研究将使DGR项目的成本降至最低，并提高项目的短期、中期和长期安全性。

Canada relies on nuclear power to provide a significant proportion of its clean, non-carbon-emitting energy, and has an enviable record for safe operation of nuclear power plants and storage of the nuclear waste that they produce. Waste is currently stored at the sites where it is generated, but strategies for its long-term storage or disposal are being developed. For low and intermediate level wastes (L & ILW), which do not include spent nuclear fuel, Ontario Power Generation plans to use a Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) which will safely store the waste deep underground in impermeable rock. Existing L & ILW wastes will be stored in the repository, as well as new wastes generated from continuing power plant operations and decommissioning and refurbishment of reactors.This project is designed to support the DGR operation by addressing two important aspects: the need to reduce the volumes of waste stored in the DGR, and the need to package the waste so that it can be safely and efficiently transported, and safely held in the DGR in the 60-100 years that it will operate before it is permanently sealed. The first part of the project will explore methods for decontaminating the surfaces of metallic wastes, so that the radioactive surface contaminants can be separated from the bulk metal. The second part of the project will investigate the use of geopolymers for the containment of certain types of wastes. Geopolymers are mechanically tough composites that can be produced from existing industrial waste materials, and are expected to contain the radioactive waste in a way that minimizes the leaching out of radioactive components, and the generation of gases that can cause the materials to swell or fracture. This project will produce new scientific knowledge that will allow the volumes of wastes stored in the DGR to be reduced, and ensure certain types of waste are more safely contained. This research will therefore allow the costs of the DGR project to be minimized, and the short, medium, and long-term safety of the project to be augmented.