Equipment and experimental facilities
The laboratories, equipment and techniques available for the research line are the laboratories in use of High Level Waste Unit, its future facility IR-35 (currently under construction) and those used in close collaboration with other Units of Ciemat, such us the gamma irradiation Náyade facility:
a) Radioactive laboratories IR-30: Laboratories to manipulate long life radionuclides, which include two associated radioactive facilities.
IR- 30-(S1.26) Experimental lab.
It is a laboratory equipped and authorized for running experiments with a large variety of radioisotopes. Solubility, oxidation and leaching tests can be carried out at a long-term scale in final geological conditions, fabrication of new model systems based in different solid matrix and studies for the improvement or development of nuclear fuel reprocessing processes, such as studies of radionuclide complexation, liquid–liquid extraction, mass transference and stability to hydrolysis and radiolysis.
This laboratory is equipped with: 3 anoxic gloveboxes (Ar atmosphere for tests under controlled atmospheric conditions), 5 fume-hood, uniaxial press (25Tn), furnace (1700°C); mixer mill, polisher and metallographic surface preparation, ultracentrifugation, titrators, viscometer, colorimetry & chemiluminescence, electrodeposition for alpha samples analysis, UV-Vis spectroscopy, climatic chamber, thermal treatments, etc.
IR- 30-(S1.21) Analysis lab
This laboratory is equipped for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the composition of aqueous and organics samples by ICP-MS, HPLC-MS, beta-gamma and alpha spectrometry.
b) Radioactive laboratory IR-35: This laboratory is currently under licensing. It has been designed for completing IR-30 activities with the aim to cover the current requirements and future needs of new research trend as unique laboratories in Spain providing these kind services and scientific support to public institutions, NPP and industries. Relevance of this new facility is focused on higher activity limits for handling radioactive materials than those in IR-30, and the adaptation of equipment’s that currently allow working with “exempt“ quantities of radionuclides. Most of the surface characterization techniques that are currently carried out in non-radioactive facilities in this research line, with the corresponding restriction, will be implemented in this laboratory (Rheometer, XRD, BET, Raman spectroscopy, SEM-EDX, laser diffraction, etc.).
c) Conventional laboratories: These “cold” laboratories are devoted to the surface characterization of the materials used in oxidation, dissolution and fabrication experiments, as well as to the synthesis, purification and cold analysis of organic ligands included in all radionuclide process separation. In that sense, blank dissolution or extraction tests with no radioactive isotopes are also run. · Laboratory S1.25 (Dissolution preparation, synthesis and purification of ligands, BET, etc).
· Laboratory S1.18 (Raman spectroscopy, SEM-EDX, laser diffraction).
· Laboratory S1.20 (OM- Microdurometer, microbalance, TGA-DSC).
· Laboratory S1.25 (Organic synthesis, viscometer, Lab reagent storage, fume-hood with a rotavapor).