Enresa

El Cabril LILW Processes

The video describes the main conditioning and storage processes for low and intermediate level radioactive waste at the El Cabril Disposal Facility.

It begins with a view of the globe centred on Spain, followed by a map of Spain opening up to mark the geographical position of the El Cabril Disposal Facility, in Hornachuelos, Cordoba, which has held its operational permit since October 1992. It currently manages and stores very low, low and intermediate level waste generated throughout Spain.

This is followed by an actual wide-angle view of the facility which is the key element of the film. The video begins by taking us to one part of the image, the entrance to El Cabril, explaining in a pop-up window centre screen the source of the waste stored at the facility. El Cabril receives waste from nuclear power plants, hospitals, research centres and industrial sites.

The image then shifts to a different point, the conditioning unit, where another window details the process followed depending on the type of waste received, with actual images and infographics: the drums are compacted or immobilised with concrete. Each drum has capacity for 220 litres beneath a metal structure. The drums are then placed in concrete casks. Each cask can hold 18 non-compacted drums and 32 flattened or compacted drums. The casks have a reinforced concrete structure. Once full, the cask is immobilised with mortar.

At this point the image shifts to the low and intermediate level waste storage platforms at El Cabril, showing how the immobilised cask is placed in the storage vault. Each storage vault has capacity for 320 casks. Once the vault has reached full capacity, it is enclosed with a reinforced concrete slab at the top and is waterproofed. This provides definitive storage for the waste, isolated from people and the environment.

The video also explains and details how the environmental surveillance and control systems function: first, the isolation of the storage vaults can be verified via the Seepage Control Network. The structure of this network is based on a system of pipelines connected to the central drainage point of each of the storage vaults, serving to monitor their performance.

Examples are also given of the Environmental Radiological Surveillance Programme, to confirm that the facility is having no impact on the population and the environment. This programme covers a spectrum of more than 1,000 yearly environmental samples, analysed at external laboratories. The types of the sample cover different fields and settings: air, direct radiation, water, soil, sediment, vegetation, food, etc.

The video finally details the characteristics of the cover, platform and storage facilities at El Cabril:

• El Cabril is the definitive storage site for very low, low and intermediate level waste.
• It currently has 28 storage structures in place for low and intermediate level waste and holds authorisation to construct 4 additional(?) structures for very low-level waste.
• Once the storage structures at El Cabril are full they will be definitively covered over, restoring the landscape to its original appearance.
• The final layer will comprise soil to reduce erosion and encourage plant growth so as to blend into the surroundings.
• The site surveillance and control phase lasts 300 years. The time required for the emitted radiation values to reach the natural background levels.

The tape ends by showing a simulation of what the natural setting will look like in the future, after the facility has been closed and once the environmental restoration work has been performed, culminating in the facility being covered over, with no environmental impact.