Non-destructive Material Characterization of Waste Packages with QUANTOM - 22208

The nuclear and non-nuclear industry has produced a considerable amount of low and intermediate level radioactive wastes during the last decades. The material characterization of waste packages recently became more and more important in order to store these waste packages in a final underground repository. Material characterization remains an indispensable criterion to prevent pollution of the ground water with toxic materials and is required in Germany by the national licensing and supervisory authorities.
The material characterization can be performed on the basis of existing documentation or, if the documentation is insufficient, on further destructive or non-destructive analysis. Non-destructive methods are to be preferred to minimize costs as well as radiation exposures of operating personnel. An innovative non-destructive measurement system called QUANTOM® (QUantitative ANalysis of TOxic and non-toxic Materials) has been developed. It is based on the Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA). This technology is able to identify, verify and quantify the amount of hazardous and non-hazardous substances in radioactive waste packages such as 200-l-drums which is required for a final disposal characterization. ... mehrThe technology can also be applied for smaller or larger volumes.
The first prototype of QUANTOM® is already in operation since 2020. The first validation phase has been performed in 2021: non-radioactive drums filled with different reference materials have been measured and analyzed with QUANTOM®. Samples of these reference materials have also been analyzed by means of the same technology (PGNAA) at the research reactor of Budapest and by XRF analysis. Exemplary results for the measurements of reference materials are presented. First results show a good agreement between the QUANTOM® measurements and the reference analyses.
The main benefits of QUANTOM® are summarized below:
• Non-destructive multi-element analysis with high sensitivity (ppm-range) of the entire matrix (representative bulk analysis)
• Fast measurement process (2h-4h per waste drum) with high measurement precision
• No repackaging and no increase of waste volume
• Reduction of costs (min. 50% per waste drum) compared to destructive analysis processes
• Minimizing the transportation of radioactive waste drums and radiation exposure of the operating personnel.