03 Jul Handling of Risø's NORM commenced

Danish Decommissioning does not accept waste containing naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). Previously, smaller quantities were received and, over the years, placed in and near two basins containing Risø's own NORM waste. The external waste has now been removed.

TThe two basins were built in 1980 in connection with a uranium extraction experiment at Risø. Over 1000 tons of ore from Greenland's Kvanefjeld were crushed and processed before the experiment was abandoned. The low-level radioactive residual material, tailings, has since been stored underwater in the basins to prevent the dispersion of this fine-grained waste product.

In June, the basins were temporarily drained of water, and all waste other than tailings – including metal pipes, concrete blocks, and drums – was removed from the basins to be dried, sorted, and packaged. Subsequently, water was refilled over the bottom layer of tailings.

A container that had stood between the basins for several years was also moved and cleared of numerous buckets, boxes, and drums containing NORM waste, such as soil and ore samples. In total, eight half-height ISO containers and 20 drums have been filled with NORM waste. The packed containers and drums are now located in a dedicated NORM section within our low-active storage facility.

Kvanefjeld Ore and Tailings
Adjacent to the tailings basins, there are still 3700 tons of uranium ore from Kvanefjeldet, representing an unused resource. Danish Decommissioning has consistently expected to manage and clear both the ore piles and the tailings. This naturally falls under the final major decommissioning project, the waste treatment plant and the storage facilities.

Following an order issued by Roskilde Municipality, we will, however, implement various measures concerning the ore piles in the coming months: they will be covered, and groundwater abstraction pumping will be established, along with a monitoring program involving groundwater samples. Once a new, upgraded storage facility is ready at Risø, the ore is expected to be moved there, after which the current storage area will be remediated.

Similarly, the tailings are expected to be removed from the basins at that time, packaged in containers, and transferred to the new storage facility, after which the basins will be cleaned. The long-term fate of NORM waste awaits a national NORM strategy.

Read the issued order from Roskilde Municipality
Read the memo on NIRAS' environmental engineering investigations of soil and groundwater at the ore piles
Read the DD memo on radon exhalation from ore piles and tailings basins