A few months ago, the Spanish government approved the new General Radioactive Waste Plan (PGRR). General Radioactive Waste Plan (Plan General de Residuos Radiactivos, PGRR) a detailed roadmap for managing the closure and decommissioning of the country’s nuclear power plants over the course of this century. This plan sets out not only the schedule for the closure of the plants, but also how their radioactive waste will be handled and what the multi-billion dollar cost associated with decommissioning the reactors and building the necessary storage facilities will be.
About the decommissioning of nuclear power plants
The new plan calls for the phased closure of all nuclear power plants between 2027 and 2035, culminating in a complete nuclear shutdown. The public company Enresa will be responsible for the management of radioactive radioactive waste and dismantling the plants.
Enresa has already dismantled the Zorita plant (Guadalajara) and has encapsulated the Vandellós I (Tarragona) accident reactor under a concrete sarcophagus. Currently, the process to dismantle Garoña (Burgos) has begun. dismantling Garoña (Burgos) has begun. . Enresa has also begun preparations for the decommissioning of the two Almaraz (Cáceres) reactors. decommissioning of the two reactors at Almaraz (Cáceres) in 2027 and 2028. in 2027 and 2028, and will subsequently be responsible for decommissioning the other four remaining plants.
To facilitate this process, Enresa will employ an innovative portable facility to treat radioactive waste on site, which can be moved from one plant to another as needed.
Construction of the portable plant for radioactive waste management
Spain is working on the construction of a new laboratory for the treatment of thousands of tons of medium and low-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. This “demountable laboratory” will have two floors and will be transportable in modules, allowing it to be moved from one nuclear power plant to another. The modules will have standard 40-foot shipping container dimensions, be watertight and interconnected to ensure radiation safety.
The public companies Enusa, which manufactures and markets nuclear fuel, and Ensa, which specializes in the construction of radioactive waste containers, have joined forces to carry out this project. Both companies have launched a public public tender to contract an engineering firm to develop the construction project for the portable radioactive waste management facility.
How would this portable laboratory work?
The portable laboratory will manage and recondition the waste currently stored in each plant through processes such as segregation, shredding, compacting, cutting and decontamination. The objective is to classify the waste, reduce its volume and condition it for transfer to the low and medium radioactive waste storage facility at El Cabril (Córdoba), managed by Enresa.
Enusa and Ensa have developed a basic design for the facility and are in the process of obtaining approval from the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN). Now they are looking for an engineering consulting firm to detail the execution of the design, the construction of the The engineering firm is now looking for an engineering consultant to detail the design, construction of the facility and the radiation protection systems, in addition to defining a budget and execution deadlines.
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Source: El periódico de España
Photo: freepik
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