Legacy waste containers for low and intermediate level radioactive waste in Germany – current situation and challenges
- Low and intermediate level radioactive waste has been produced in Germany for several decades. While a part of the waste had been deposited in the Morleben repository and the Asse mine which have been operated for just a limited period of time, the major amount is conditioned and packaged in temporarily stored waste containers. Those containers are designated for final disposal in the KON-RAD repository being currently under construction and expected to start opera-tion in 2022. As a consequence, an assessment of the waste container documen-tation and safety is strongly needed to receive an approval for the Konrad reposi-tory. This requalification is challenging because those old containers have to meet the same safety requirements as new containers.