The event brought together representatives of analytical agencies, investment and energy companies, scientific and research organizations, municipalities, as well as the oil industry of the region.
TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom was appointed as the Russain nuclear industry integrator for decommissioning of nuclear and radiation hazardous facilities and associated RW management. NUKEM Technologies (Germany), TVEL-managed engineering company, shared its experience in NORM management and presented the principles of minimizing waste, reducing its volume, as well as waste conditioning methods.
“Compared to the levels of contamination we are usually dealing with in our waste management and decommissioning projects, NORM represents a standard decontamination and health physics job with a fairly low complexity profile. We have monitored the increasing sensitivity of global stakeholders on the oil and petrochemical industries on NORM over the last years,” said Klaus Büttner, Chief Technology Officer at NUKEM Technologies.
In the coming years, the NORM management may become an additional source of contracts due to the technologies for site remediation and radioactive waste management.
What is NORM? Naturally occurring radioactive materials are radioactive elements that can be found in the environment and include uranium, thorium and potassium, as well as their radioactive decay products which are radium and radon.
NORM concentration is low in most natural substances, however higher concentrations can result from human activities including ore extraction and processing, carbon-based substances combustion and handling, rare earth elements extraction, phosphates and metals production.
TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom (Rosatom Fuel Division) comprises nuclear fuel fabrication companies, uranium conversion and enrichment facilities, gas centrifuge manufacturers, as well as research and development organizations. TVEL is the only supplier of nuclear fuel for Russian NPPs, providing fuel for a total of 75 power reactors in 15 countries, research reactors in nine countries, and propulsion reactors for the Russian nuclear fleet. Every sixth reactor in the world is operated with TVEL fuel. Rosatom Fuel Division is the world's largest producer of enriched uranium.
The Fuel Division is actively developing new businesses in the field of chemistry, metallurgy, energy storage technologies, 3D printing, digital products, as well as nuclear facilities decommissioning. TVEL Fuel Company comprises Rosatom's integrators for additive technologies and energy storage systems.