Achievements

ENTRAP has been involved in:

• Discussion forum, technical visits.
• Various R&D proposals were developed, that resulted in EU-projects.
• Many bi- or multilateral co-operations generated.
• Many radioactive waste management schemes opened & interchanged for mutual experience.
• Large volume controls (significant topics for destructive assay (DA) and non-destructive assay (NDA)).
• Significant scientific output (cf. http://www.en-trap.eu/Reports.html, 2014).

It has established valuable links with Standards organizations, such as International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), who are active in the development of Standards relevant to the quality checking of radioactive waste packages and with laboratories in Eastern European countries.

Moreover, ENTRAP has produced recognizable output for quality management/quality assurance (QM/QA), e.g. for the implementation of regulatory checking or the harmonization of procedures for LLW and ILW (Van Velzen et al., 2000). A discussion of the promotion of quality standards has led to the accreditation and quality certification of a number of ENTRAP member laboratories.

Particular emphasis has been given to destructive and non-destructive assay of radioactive waste compounds and the assessment of the methodology and harmonization of the experimental metrology and uncertainties.

Significant topics of large volume control have included investigations of the “Characterization Methodology for Complex Geometry” at ENRESA and the implementation of the versatile experimental CINPHONIE platform for large volume nuclear waste characterization at Cadarache (Estre and Pettier, 2013).

The methodological standardization of analytical techniques has reached a state-of-the-art level which will be maintained. Thus, Round Robin tests (RRTs) have been performed on radioactive ion exchange resin samples; the results are currently compiled and will be published shortly. An example of the involvement of ENTRAP member laboratories has been the RRTs on the destructive analysis of irradiated graphite within the Carbowaste EU-project (Carbowaste, 2013) which has resulted in the creation of a “cook-book” for the analysis of volatile but safety relevant nuclei, such as Cl-36. The RTT results for Cl-36 is shown in Fig. 2

Future ENTRAP projects will consider issues such as:

• Free release, (T)NORM, ILW/HLW.
• Harmonization of tests & characterization (ENTRAP has a liaison “A” membership with ISO).
• Identify specific legacy and problem waste issues.
• Liaison with other networks inside EU (IGD-TP, NUGENIA, SNETP, etc).
• Training & young scientists exchange among ENTRAP members.

The young scientist exchange and training sponsoring program is a recent activity of ENTRAP and targets the development of knowledge and talents in the ENTRAP member laboratories.