The Institute of Corpuscular Physics, located in the University of Valencia Science Park, is working with the person responsible for nuclear power plant safety in Spain to implement a new waste management system
The Nuclear Safety Council (CSN), the only competent body for nuclear safety and radiation protection in Spain, has granted funding to develop a new project at the Institute of Corpuscular Physics (IFIC), located at the University of Valencia Science Park (PCUV). This is the PROTON project, which aims to develop evaluation methodologies for testing a tomographic technology developed at IFIC to visualize, analyze and monitor the activity of nuclear waste. The project team will take measurements and test these evaluation methodologies at the nuclear power plant of Garoña (Burgos).
This project stems from a collaboration which began in 2015 between an IFIC research team led by the CSIC scientist Francisco Albiol and the National Radioactive Waste Company (ENRESA). They developed a series of disruptive technologies which allow performing dynamic tomographies of the gamma radiation coming from the radioactive isotopes of nuclear waste, thus facilitating their classification and reducing the costs in the process of dismantling nuclear power plants, which are estimated at around 4,000 million euros in Spain.
Until now, static procedures have been used to determine the activity and dose of a radioactive waste container. "The technology we have developed at IFIC allows a more agile tomographic reconstruction independent of the shape of the container and the position of the detectors, taking advantage of the recognition of the environment through artificial intelligence and vision, as well as tomographic techniques adapted from medical imaging," explains Francisco Albiol.
However, this technology requires an evaluation by the regulatory body, the CSN, before its incorporation to the industry. In this context, the main objective of the PROTON project is to familiarize the CSN with the use, advantages and limitations of the technology developed by IFIC, as well as to collect relevant aspects for calibration and handling. "During the realization of the project we seek to evaluate portable and geometry-independent gamma-ray tomography devices, in order to ensure their ability to estimate the distribution and quantification of activity and dose accurately," summarizes the project coordinator at the CSN, Juan González Cadelo.
"The technology we have developed at IFIC allows a more agile tomographic reconstruction independent of the shape of the container and the position of the detectors, taking advantage of the recognition of the environment through artificial intelligence and vision, as well as tomographic techniques adapted from medical imaging", Francisco Albiol, IFIC researcher
Tests at the Garoña nuclear power plant
For the correct evaluation of the developed technologies, the project members have among their objectives to go to the nuclear power plant of Garoña (Burgos), where measurements will be taken and the implemented methodologies will be tested. Currently, a prototype has already been validated for the tomographic reconstruction of gamma activity and its three-dimensional distribution in nuclear waste containers, which has led to the obtaining of several patents for these developments.
This project not only seeks to provide criteria that inspire confidence in the technology to characterize nuclear waste, but also to comply with the industry's regulatory requirements and establish limits that ensure the correct operation of this innovative technology. "With PROTON we hope to significantly improve the nuclear waste assessment and management processes, thus contributing to safety and efficiency in the nuclear industry," concludes Albiol.
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