Belt Conveyor Free Release Measurement System for Radiological Characterization of Soil and Bulk Material at Dessel
Contract
NUKEM has been awarded a contract by Franco-Belge de Fabrication du Combustible (FBFC) International to supply and operate a belt conveyor free release measurement system for radiological characterisation of soil. After extending the contract, the system was modified for the characterization of bulk material.
Description
The nuclear fuel fabrication plant in Dessel, Belgium, was in operation from 1961 until 2012. In the course of the dismantling of the plant buildings on site, approximately 40,000 tons of soil had to be checked for radiological contamination. To this end, preliminary batchwise crushing helped to achieve a homogenous and manageable stream of bulk material subject to radiological measurements and characterisation. This was based on MCNP calculations, gamma spectrometry as well as determination of weight and volume. Depending on the measured specific activity of U-nuclide vector, the soil was either consigned for clearance procedure or, if contaminated, loaded into a relevant container. 95% of the examined 41,700 tons of soil were classified as subject to free release. The system was then upgrated for the characterisation of crushed building materials. The bulk materials handled by FREMES included concrete and gas concrete as well as bricks and material, such as stones, sorted out during soil measurement. The radiological measurement of 5,700 tons of bulk material resulted in a free release of 98% of the material .
NUKEM planned, manufactured, operated and continuously adapted the system to the requirements of the current dismantling process. Furthermore, NUKEM provided licensing support to the customer. The work at Dessel site was carried out between October 2017 and December 2020.
Services
The services to be provided by NUKEM are as follows:
- Basic and Detail Design
- Licensing support
- Procurement
- Commissioning
- Operation
- Customisation to client specific requirements
