RADAR: Digital design and safety assessment of vitrified waste
Use case example
As a real Swiss-Army-Tool for radiological applications, RADAR is useful in all types of scenarios. Explore this page to discover how RADAR can help you with your projects.
Waste management and vitrification
Context
Long‑term management of certain high‑level radioactive waste streams involves vitrification, a process in which radioactive materials are incorporated into a glass matrix. During vitrification, the waste is mixed with glass-forming materials and melted at high temperature, producing a stable solid once cooled.
The resulting vitrified waste form is structurally and chemically durable. The glass matrix immobilizes radionuclides at the atomic scale, significantly limiting their mobility and reducing the risk of release to the environment. This stability makes vitrification a well‑established option for the long‑term management of specific radioactive waste streams, particularly high‑level liquid waste from nuclear fuel reprocessing.
Challenge
Tests have to be conducted to determine which combination of glass and waste is both safe, stable and feasible.
RADAR can combine both Monte Carlo and point-kernel simulations in one user-friendly digital environment. Tests can be done completely digitally, saving both time and money.
RADAR
RADAR was used to study radioactive waste canisters containing radionuclides such as strontium‑90 (Sr‑90). Sr‑90 primarily emits beta radiation, which can generate secondary photon radiation - known as bremsstrahlung - when the beta particles interact with high‑Z (heavy) materials present in the waste or the canister. This secondary radiation can significantly contribute to the dose rates around the canister and cannot be accurately captured using point‑kernel methods alone.
RADAR’s Monte Carlo engine, G4Anubis, enables detailed dose‑rate assessments by explicitly modeling the real canister geometry and material composition. This makes it possible to account for bremsstrahlung production and transport, as well as to evaluate the impact of different filling levels and radionuclide mixtures.
For waste streams dominated by radionuclides that primarily emit gamma radiation, shielding calculations can be performed much more efficiently using the point‑kernel engine. By combining both calculation engines, RADAR delivers high‑fidelity analyses where required, while maintaining fast turnaround times for efficient design and optimization studies.
How full can the glass container be?
Monte Carlo
- Radiation hotspots
Point kernel
- Dose distribution
- Radiation hotspots
- Pressure
How will radiation behave in the container?
Monte Carlo
- Radiation spread
- Energy deposit
Point kernel
- Dosis profiles
- Evaluate safety margins
Conclusion
RADAR combines the best of both worlds:
the accuracy of Monte Carlo, the speed and the convenience of point kernel, in one central platform.
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