A Modular Waste Storage Yard Concept for Managing CANDU 600 MW Nuclear Generating Station Refurbishment Waste Streams

Abstract

The waste management facility of a CANDU 600 MW Nuclear Generating Station is licensed to meet the operational requirements for the original 25 to 30 years of station life. However, these stations are now considering a Plant Life Extension through refurbishment of the reactor core and other plant systems. The refurbishment work will generate a waste stream that has a large volume and specific characteristics that typically cannot be handled and stored within the existing capacity of the waste management facility. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited has identified the requirements for waste stream handling and storage for a CANDU 600 MW plant refurbishment. These requirements can be met through the use of either all, or part of, a Waste Storage Yard Concept that is a based on our experience on the planned refurbishment of Pt Lepreau and Gentilly 2 CANDU 600 MW power plants. This paper describes, at a high level, the waste management requirements to support the refurbishment work and describes the Waste Storage Yard Concept.