Application of IVO International Ltd.’s “Mobile Nuclide Removal System” (NURES) for Liquid Radioactive Waste Treatment at the Paldiski Naval Training Center, Estonia and at the Repair and Technology Enterprise RTP “Atomflot,” Murmansk, Russia

Abstract

IVO International Ltd. has developed a mobile NUclide REmoval System (NURES) that allows for very effective purification of liquid radioactive wastes. The first section of this paper describes major characteristics of the facility.

In 1995, the NURES facility was taken to Estonia to purify the liquid waste that had accumulated from operating nuclear reactors at the Paldiski naval training center. About 760 cubic meters of liquid waste were purified, mainly from cesium. Only one 12-liter capacity filter was needed to treat the liquid. An estimated activity of 11.1 GBq (0.3 Ci) was collected in the filter, which was removed from the NURES facility, buried in a concrete container, and disposed of for long-term storage. This paper summarizes that project.

Another mission to treat liquid radioactive waste with the NURES facility involves transporting it to the RTP “Atomflot” enterprise in Murmansk. The project is called “ARKTIKA-M,” and it includes purification of about 300 cubic meters of nuclear reactor cooling waters from the Russian icebreaker fleet operating in the Arctic seas. To this end, IVO International Ltd. and the RTP “Atomflot” signed a cooperative contract in May 1996. An outline of the project plan is presented in this paper.