Research projects by areas of work

Through its five-year plans Enresa implements and carries out numerous research and development projects in each of the areas.

Waste technology

• Processes of interaction between radionuclides and concrete and corrosion products.
• Integration of sorption data and database migration.
• Separation of long-lived radionuclides: EUROPART project (6th EURATOM framework project).
• Transmutation applied to high level wastes: RED-IMPACT and EUROTRANS projects (6th EURATOM framework programme).

Temporary storage. CTS

• Collaboration between Enresa- UPC-DIQ and the Transuranics Institute of Karlsruhe for irradiated fuel.
• Characterisation of fuel stability and behaviour under different storage conditions.
• Behaviour of high burnup fuel and cladding during dry storage.

Assessment of long-term behaviour

• Characterisation of metallic materials and manufacturing of capsules.
• Characterisation and modelling of coupled processes between isolation and confinement barrier components: NF-PRO project (6th EURATOM framework programme).
• Use of low pH concretes for the sealing of drifts: ESDRED project (6th EURATOM framework programme).
• Characterisation of fundamental migration projects: FUNMIG project (6th EURATOM framework programme).
• Synthesis of R&D activities on granite and clay media.
• Synthesis of R&D activities in the biosphere.
• European safety assessment methodology: PAMINA project (6th EURATOM framework programme).

Support for facilities

• Durability of concretes for containers for the El Cabril disposal facility.
• R&D associated with the characterisation of low and intermediate level radioactive waste packages.
• Volume reduction by plasma.
• Conditioning of wastes arising from incidents at steelyards.
• Development of CE-2B containers.
• Participation in international radiological protection and environmental restoration projects: MODTRANS, ERICA projects (6th EURATOM framework programme), CRIAR and ACRI.
• Assessment of the radiological impact of non-nuclear radionuclides.
• Remediation of contaminated soils.
• Mestral Technology Centre R&D Projects.
• Hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical surveillance and rock database development at El Cabril.
• Monitoring and automation of hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical surveillance systems at El Cabril
• Overall modelling of the operation of the El Cabril disposal facility: Waste - Barrier - Site
• E&D associated with disposal cell covering layers.
• Integrated modelling platform and environmental surveillance applications.