Waste management | Activities
Radioactive Waste in Austria
In Austria, radioactive waste has been accumulating for more than 90 years. In the beginning, only a few research institutes and hospitals dealt with such substances. The process was such that naturally occurring radio nuclides were concentrated and examined and applied in this form. The waste materials resulting from those processes were stored at these institutes for decades. It has been only a few years now that such waste is being transferred to the central Austrian storage, processing and conditioning facility at the Research Centers Seibersdorf.
At first, radium compounds were valuable and expensive investments for hospitals. The use of nuclear fission, however, paved the way for cheaper and more secure production processes, making them available for lesser well-off hospitals as well. Furthermore, a lot of additional fields of applications for radio nuclides were developed.
In this situation the 
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology took over the task of conditioning and storing radioactive waste. In 1976 the Federal Government commissioned AIT to construct a sorting, compression and combustion facility as well as a temporary storage site for the conditioned waste on AIT’s grounds.
Presently about 150m3 of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste are delivered from hospitals, research institutions, and industrial enterprises to NES per year. According to legal provisions, this waste can neither be disposed of together with domestic garbage nor can it be treated as hazardous waste. For conditioning this kind of waste special precautions have to be taken.
| Contact: | |
 Christoph Joachim Laßerus | |
| Ing. Josef Tauber | |
| Christoph Joachim Laßerus | |
| Ing. Christian Lechner | |
| Ing. Christian Lechner | |
| DI Dr. Andreas Vesely | |
| Gerhard Stolba | |
| DI Dr. Andreas Vesely |
Transport of radioactive substances
See products & services.
Processing and conditioning of radioactive waste
See products & services.
Naturally decaying radioactive waste
Clearance measurements / Waste drum measurements
If it has been shown via clearance measurements that the activity has fallen below the free release threshold provided by federal regulations then the residue can be released from the purview of Austrian radiation safety and protection regulations.
Aside from the use of portable activity monitors a release measurement facility is used.
Radiation safety and protection
The limits for people exposed to radiation (own personnel) as well as the general public (outside personnel) as stipulated in Austria’s radiation protection laws have to be strictly observed and therefore monitored carefully. These regulations comprise the determination and registration of dose values as well as guaranteeing that work stations have to be free of contamination. For determining and registering dose values electronic dosimeters are available. Contamination control of the work stations is secured by regularly taking swipe test samples. Another important measure to prevent incorporation of radioactive substances is controlling room air at the work stations by using aerosol monitors.
Finally, strict emission limits for the release of radioactivity from laboratories have to be observed.
See also instruments available for these activities.
Chemical and radiochemical analytics
See also facilities & equipment.
Analytics also carries out analyses for internal radiation protection (see above).
From taking over radioactive waste to the processing steps involved to get a container suitable for final storage, a large number of parameters have to be determined. All the steps have to be documented accordingly.
For release of various items from the scope of the atomic energy act (which is needed e.g. in the case of decommissioning hot zones) a release procedure has to be carried out confirming that the nuclide-specific limits of Austria’s radiation protection regulations have been observed. The determination of the nuclide vectors necessary for release measurements is also carried out by radiochemical analytics.
Therefore, the multi-faceted areas of responsibility of analytics are as follows:
- Sample measurements for internal radiation protection
- Entrance and product control of radioactive waste and quality assurance
- In situ Gamma spectrometry
- Compiling/control of nuclide vectors for release measurements
Special projects
- Thermal, Structural, and Radiological Properties of Irradiated Graphite from the ASTRA Research Reactor
Implications for Disposal
Dusan Lexa, Nuclear Engineering Seibersdorf GmbH, Austria & A.Jeremy Kropf, Argonne National Laboratory, USAPoster - Download (1 MB)
Poster - Download (1 MB)Master thesis
- Michael Dauke: Investigation of the Wigner Energy in the Inner Thermal Graphite Column of the ASTRA Reactor Seibersdorf, TU-Wien (2005)