Site monitoring and supervision for NIRAS cAt project

Federal Government Assigns NIRAS to Realise the cAt Project

On 26 June 2006, the federal government gave NIRAS the assignment to realise the cAt project. This project offers a solution for the disposal of category A waste in Belgium, specifically low and intermediate active short-lived waste.

The disposal facility in Dessel for category A waste

The disposal facility in Dessel will provide a solution for the disposal of Belgian category A waste. This includes both the category A waste that arises today, which is temporarily stored in the Belgoprocess buildings, and the category A waste that will arise in the future, for example during the decommissioning of nuclear installations. This waste is processed and conditioned radioactive waste containing a small amount of radioactive substances, including only a very limited amount of long-lived substances. Due to these properties, category A waste is eligible for surface storage.

The aim of radioactive waste management in Belgium

The aim of radioactive waste management is to encase radioactive substances so that they do not end up in the environment and to separate them so that people do not come into direct contact with them. Surface disposal is a long-term solution that traps the waste passively and separates it from people and the environment. This method is effective during the time that the waste needs to lose most of its radioactivity due to the decay of short-lived elements, which is approximately 300 years. This ensures safety without future generations needing to concern themselves actively with the waste.

The global project consists of several subprojects:

• the Communications Centre (Tabloo)
• the Access Cluster
• the Caisson factory
• the Plant for the Production of Monoliths (IPM)
• the Disposal Facility
• the Test Cover

Assignment

The assignment for Sweco comprises the organization and execution of site monitoring and site supervision in the realization of the cAt project. More specifically, it involves the daily supervision and management in terms of conformity, quality, documentation, test programs, quantity control and safety.

The site supervision will partly be organized according to area of expertise. This includes the following disciplines: civil engineering (with specific attention to earthworks, infrastructure works, concrete works and steel structures), automation, HVAC, electricity, gantry cranes, process installations, instrumentation and security systems.

The assignment consists of the technical support for the realization of the cAt project and includes the following elements:

• daily supervision of compliance with the specifications and execution planning, including reporting;
• supervising the planning of the execution of the Quality Control;
• permanent quality control on the implementation;
• collecting and documenting all quality documentation (registrations, inspections, hold and witness points, etc.);
• drawing up a photo file, taking into account specific provisions for aspects that are NUC confidential;
• drawing up the implementation specifications of tests and inspections;
• checking the quantities implemented or supplied;
• document management in the framework of the specifications and the execution of the assignment, status monitoring;
• topographical surveys (if required);
• attention for safety situation on the site wherein Sweco has an exemplary role in this respect.