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Fusion Science and Technology
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WIPP: Lessons in transportation safety
As part of a future consent-based approach by the federal government to site new deep geologic repositories for nuclear waste, local communities and states that are considering hosting such facilities are sure to have many questions. Currently, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is the only example of such a repository in operation, and it offers the opportunity for state and local officials to visit and judge for themselves the risks and benefits of hosting a similar facility. But its history can also provide lessons for these officials, particularly the political process leading up to the opening of WIPP, the safety of WIPP operations and transportation of waste from generator facilities to the site, and the economic impacts the project has had on the local area of Carlsbad, as well as the rest of the state of New Mexico.
Arno Vankrunkelsven, Kris Dylst, Yves D’Joos
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 81 | Number 4 | May 2025 | Pages 294-299
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2024.2361198
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In the field of decommissioning and decontamination, multiple difficulties arise. The main issues in tritium decontamination are due to its ability to permeate through virtually any material. As a result, the release of tritium from contaminated materials is affected by multiple parameters, complicating the exact characterization and choice of the decontamination strategy. Research efforts by the decontamination and clean-up processes group at SCK•CEN are currently concentrating on two different projects. In the first project, the dismantling of an obsolete tritium installation is evaluated. Parts of this installation have tritium inventories in the MBq/g range. Tritium release using several cutting techniques and the tritium inventory of the resulting cut parts and secondary materials, such as sawdust and cutting curls, is investigated. The second project concerns the detritiation and safe conversion of tritiated NaK into less reactive carbonates.