Virtual Conference on Applied Radiation Metrology hosted by NPL with focus on nuclear decommissioning In the last week of November 2020, NPL hosted its Conference on Applied Radiation Metrology (CARM), which was run virtually as a series of Microsoft Teams sessions. The conference was the latest in a series by NPL for the nuclear metrology community. The conference included over 80 presentations from 15 countries across 16 sessions. In… Read More
Free release measurement facility The Free Release Measurement Facility (FRMF) based on the 4 HPGe detectors and low-level background concrete shielding and installed in Madrid at Spanish designated metrology institute CIEMAT has been calibrated using Monte Carlo codes MCNP and PENELOPE, and the calibration validated by measurement of reference materials and radionuclide sources standardized by European metrology institutes. Real… Read More
Lockdown lectures on nuclear decommissioning Members of the NPL’s Nuclear Metrology Group have recently delivered lectures to several different stakeholders from the UK nuclear community. The presentations provided an opportunity to give an update on radioanalytical capabilities and recent method developments in radiochemistry and radionuclide nuclear metrology for nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management applications. Two talks were given to… Read More
Waste characterisation system for low-active waste Aim: To develop and validate a waste repository acceptance characterisation system for use on site with very low, low and intermediate level radioactive waste. As the legacy waste on nuclear sites needs to be verified for alpha active isotopes and in particular for fissile materials, the system will include gamma scanning and active/passive neutron measurements… Read More
Waste pre-selection and free release measurement facility Aim: To install, test and calibrate on a decommissioning site a facility for pre-selection and free release measurement of wastes from nuclear facilities. The facility will have scintillating detectors for pre-selection of wastes and germanium detectors for free release measurement. The facility will be surrounded by low activity concrete shielding to meet the limits given… Read More
Stakeholder workshop In-situ metrology for decommissioning nuclear facilities 20th February 2019, CIEMAT (Spain) We’re pleased to invite you to the Stakeholder workshop about “In-situ metrology for decommissioning nuclear facilities” to present the outputs and products designed and validated by an European consortium in the areas of: in-situ methods for rapid measuring the radioactivity content of materials on a nuclear site a novel automatic measurement system to check whether… Read More
Rapid radiochemistry analysis Aim: To develop radiochemical strategies for the analysis of radionuclides in materials. Accurate measurement of radioactivity in waste materials has an important role to play in the decommissioning of nuclear sites, as it enables site operators to dispose of waste in compliance with the regulations. The determination of alpha- and beta-particle emitting radionuclides in decommissioning… Read More
Remote characterisation in nuclear facilities Aim: To develop in-situ methods for the rapid radionuclide characterisation of the different types of materials present on decommissioning sites. The methods will improve the remote mapping of contamination and doses inside nuclear facilities and thus enable the disposition of activity to be determined and characterised, so that decommissioning work can be planned. The performance… Read More
In-situ monitoring of radiocarbon emissions using laser spectroscopy Current methods used for the detection of long-lived radioisotopes are mainly laboratory-based techniques, which cannot provide on-site monitoring capabilities. Optical techniques, such as laser spectroscopy, on the other hand, have inherent on-site monitoring capabilities, as it can provide compact, transportable, and reliable instrumentation, while still achieving very high sensitivity. Cavity ring-down spectroscopy is one of… Read More
Strain and temperature sensors Distributed Strain and Temperature Sensors (DSTS) by optical fibres are quite promising methods for the long-term (a few decades typically) structure health monitoring. As responsible operators, Andra and EDF are evaluating the feasibility to deploy such systems in their respective facilities: prospective underground radioactive waste repositories in the one hand, and hydraulics facilities (dams, dikes,… Read More