| The current strategy for dealing with the irradiated graphite wastes, associated with the UK's commercial gas-cooled reactor fleet, is for direct placement into appropriate metal containers followed by transfer to the Geological Disposal Facility (GDF). This approach will lead to the production of thousands of packages which will require long-term management and eventual disposal in the geological facility. This is likely to incur costs in the region of £1Bn and drastically increase the complexity of the safety case and the physical footprint of the GDF. Since there is currently no disposal facility available, there is a preference by the industry to indefinitely store these materials within the existing reactor building. There are a number of uncertainties associated with this strategy including long-term ageing of the waste, structural integrity of the core and availability of resource to undertake disassembly of the core over the anticipated timeframes. It is suggested that, following a short period of care and maintenance so as to allow steel activation levels to decay, the core should be disassembled and processed using thermal techniques. The resultant waste will be much smaller in volume and will be more readily immobilised using cementitious or vitrification technology. Furthermore, technologies currently being developed for the conventional fossil fuel industry can be used to treat the combustion gases from the process, thus reducing the activity release into the environment. This approach would also reduce our reliance on inter-generational support and clearly demonstrate our commitment to management of legacy wastes from the current nuclear programme before we commit to generating others.
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