EU Carbowaste project: Development of a toolbox for graphite waste management

A four year collaborative European Project ‘Treatment and Disposal of Irradiated Graphite and other Carbonaceous Waste (Carbowaste)’ was launched in May 2008 under the 7th EURATOM Framework Programme. The aim of the project is to develop best practices in the retrieval, treatment and disposal of irradiated graphite, addressing both existing legacy waste as well as waste from graphite-based nuclear fuel resulting from a new generation of nuclear reactors. This paper covers the activities led by the National Nuclear Laboratory in partnership with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in the first year of the project, which includes the lead role in the compilation of a review volume on the extent of irradiated graphite waste globally and the approaches being taken to manage it. An overview is also provided of modelling activities in year two of the project: the application of modelling techniques to the prediction of radiological inventories, to the radiological impact of C-14 and Cl-36 releases on the biosphere and to the decommissioning of Magnox reactor cores.