Waste recovery and conditioning
Optimized solutions for recovery, treatment and conditioning of waste based on more than 30 years’ experience.
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Waste recovery and conditioning aims to develop and qualify specific recovery processes and new packages that meet the safety authorities’ requirements.
This means in some cases:
- Recovering stored waste for which there was no suitable conditioning process when the workshop was in operation
- Developing safe conditioning processes compatible with existing interim or final disposal.
Orano’s waste recovery and conditioning solutions are based on:
- A waste characterisation
- The development and qualification of special recovery tools based on the characteristics of the waste to be recovered: ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle), remotely operated arms, suction heads, grippers, etc.
- Sorting and pretreatment (e.g. decontamination) of waste, where necessary, to determine the best waste stream from a technical and economic point of view
- Waste conditioning in accordance with an existing production baseline or development of a special production baseline.
- Experience feedback on waste recovery projects
- Turnkey solutions
- Design and qualification of recovery tools
- Technical and economic optimisation of conditioning choices in view of existing or newly created production baselines
During the last 30 years, Orano has capitalised on projects to recover and condition old waste:
- recovery and conditioning of ‘UMo’ fission product solutions from molybdenum-enriched fuels from natural uranium graphite gas cooled reactors using vitrification.
- projects to recover ion-exchange resins, structural waste from natural uranium graphite gas cooled reactors, sludge and other small particle size waste, at different stages of maturity.
Orano’s expertise is based on:
- The methodology for qualifying remotely operated recovery tools, transfer, treatment and conditioning,
- The overall study and optimisation of waste streams for final disposal.
- Tailor-made recovery solutions adapted to the storage conditions and the level of radiological activity
- Risk minimzation using proven technologies and methods for waste recovery, sorting, and conditioning
- Project costs and duration optimisation
- Expertise from existing waste streams
