Volume reduction of radioactive combustible waste with Oxygen Enriched Incinerator

The aim of the paper is to describe the current status of management for the decommissioning of combustible waste in KAERI. In Korea, two decommissioning projects have been carried out due to the retiring of nuclear research facilities, i.e., the Korean research reactors (KRR-1 & KRR-2) and a uranium conversion plant (UCP). The decommissioning of KRR-2 and the uranium conversion plant (UCP) at KAERI were completely finished by 2011, whereas the decommissioning of KRR-1 is currently underway. For the purpose of a volume reduction of the combustible waste generated from the decommissioning projects, incineration technology has been selected for the treatment of combustible waste. About 16.4 tons of combustible waste has been treating using Oxygen Enriched Incineration. The temperature; pressure of the major components; stack gas concentrations, i.e., SOx, NOx, CO, CO2 and HCl; and residual oxygen were measured. The major parameters measured during normal operation were sustained at a stable status within criteria of the operation condition. Oxygen enriched air, 22 vol.% (dry basis) was used for stable incineration. The volume reduction ratio achieved was about 1/65.