A New Storage Facility for Institutional Radioactive Wastes at IPEN

Abstract

IPEN, the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has been managing the radioactive wastes generated in its own activities of research and radioisotope production as well as those received from many radioisotope users in the country since its start up in 1958. Final disposal options are presently unavailable for the wastes that cannot be managed by release after decay. Treated and untreated wastes including disused sealed radioactive sources and solid and liquid wastes containing radionuclides of the uranium and thorium series or fission and activation products are among the categories that are under safe and secure storage. This paper discusses the aspects considered in the design and describes the startup of a new storage facility for these wastes.