Title : TECHNOLOGIES AND PROCESSES FOR THE DECONTAMINATION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES
Authors : Akramullah Aminy, Jan Bremmer, Torsten Gehrlein, Sascha Gentes, Patrick Kern, Oktay Secer, Steffen Reinhardt and Ahmed Haj Stefi
Publication : 13th – 16th February 2013
Volume :
Pages : 10-Jan
Price : 250
Abstract : After the tragedy of Fukushima, the German government has decided to phase out the nuclear energy. By 2022, all remaining nuclear power plants in Germany have to be shut down. The challenges for the decommissioning are immense because of different competing constraints. The professorship of Technology and Management for the decommissioning of nuclear facilities (TMRK) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has set itself the goal to develop new technologies and processes in order to make decommissioning processes more efficient, environmentally friendly and safer. The on-going research projects at the institute cover the entire area of the decommissioning process, from the decontamination of surfaces over the sensitive demolition and separation of contaminated materials up to the use of management techniques for the dismantling processes of nuclear facilities. Within the scope of this paper, some selected research projects of the chair will be presented. In the course of the projects AMANDA and MANOLA, an autonomous manipulator for the decontamination of building surfaces has been developed. The autonomous operating tool carrier AMANDA/MANOLA can move on surfaces and ceilings of buildings by means of a vacuum system and can be equipped with different tools for the purpose of surface characterization and decontamination. The removal of hot spots and cracks in facilities of reinforced concrete still poses a great challenge. For the first time, a new technology is being investigated in the course of project INAS, which enables the removal of reinforced concrete with two cutting heads in a single device during the working operation. The technique is using an oscillating disc which allows the deep removal of up to 30 cm of reinforced concrete. Pipelines in facilities are often accumulating scales and deposits. Because of the use of water jetting the removal process for hard and thick scales are producing high amounts of secondary waste. Currently, a new technique is being examined at the TMRK for the mechanical removal of scales by means of vibration and without causing any secondary waste.