31 Jan The old pit was emptied

One of DD's tasks is to establish a clearer overview of the radioactive waste that was stored at Risø prior to our establishment in 2003. With the emptying of the so-called 'Old Pit,' significant progress has been made.

BBeneath the shielding floor of the Centralvejs storage facility, numerous larger and smaller cavities are designated for radioactive waste. One of the most substantial of these is Gamle Grube, which between 1966 and 1991 was filled with over ten tons of assorted items. Over the last six months, all these items have been extracted, measured, sorted, processed, and packaged into containers. All data is now meticulously recorded in our Waste Documentation System.

The painstaking work presented several surprises along the way:
“Radioactivity levels were largely as expected. However, the handling and registration of the items were not as thorough as our current practices dictate,” states Anna Warberg Larsen, Team Leader for Waste Management.

Some of the initial items retrieved were wrapped in plastic but, despite this, had radioactive dust adhering to their exterior. This necessitated re-wrapping all items in a new layer of plastic immediately upon removal from the pit to prevent dust dispersion during transport and handling. It also became apparent that the old lists and accompanying documents for the pit's contents could not be taken at face value:
“Many items were either unmarked or bore a label that did not correspond with the accompanying document,” notes Anna Warberg Larsen.

The additional plastic layer and the inadequate labeling transformed the identification and description of each item into a challenging investigative task. However, the pit's contents – encompassing everything from filters and ventilation duct fragments to used reactor shielding plugs – have now been sorted, labeled, properly documented, and neatly packed into containers for interim storage.

Work to improve the registration and packaging of the historic waste on Risø will continue in the coming years. This is in preparation for both the dismantling of our treatment station with associated storage facilities and a long-term solution for all the waste.