Radionuclide Inventory Estimates for Decommissioning Wastes From Ontario Power Generation's Nuclear Stations

Abstract

Wastes generated from the decommissioning of Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) nuclear stations at Pickering, Bruce and Darlington are planned for disposal in a Deep Geological Repository (DGR). An estimate of the radionuclide inventory for the wastes is required for planning purposes and to support the safety case and licensing of the DGR. Kinectrics was contracted to develop a comprehensive estimate for the radionuclide inventory of the decommissioning wastes. This paper presents an overview of the methodology employed and the overall findings. The inventory was based on estimates for the reactor core, bioshield, steam generators/preheaters and carbon steel components. They are based on a combination of neutron- induced specific activities for in-core components obtained using the ORIGEN-S code and estimates for deposited activity on out-core components obtained from characterization for various reactor artefacts.