Research project “Innovation in concrete design for hazardous waste management applications” within the frame of joint Baltic Research Programme under thematic “Innovative Solutions for efficient and sustainable use of resources” (EEA-RESEARCH-165) is one of the Baltic Research Programme’s projects, which is financially supported by the European Economic Area (EEA) Grants of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Project promoter is Riga Technical University. The project is developed in cooperation with Arctic University of Norway, University of Tartu and Lithuanian Energy Institute. The project promotes circular economy by using oil shale ash, an industrial waste product created in energy production in Estonia, as supplementary cementitious material in concrete production. The main advantage of project is based on idea, that the admixture of oil shale ash (OSA) with standard cement allows the production of specialized concrete for a very important application - long-term storage of hazardous waste by immobilizing them in concrete containers or directly in the concrete mass. The project results will help with management of hazardous waste in the Baltic and Nordic countries, from highly radioactive waste directly related to the use of nuclear energy and specific components of medical equipment to toxic substances or metals with insignificant radioactivity that can occur in various sectors such as metal extraction and recycling.

ICONDE project workshop covering radioactive/nuclear waste management and other project topics was held at the Lithuanian Energy Institute (LEI) on September 12-14, 2022, in Kaunas, Lithuania. Workshop was organized as a hybrid event — online and in-person. All project partner organisations attended in this workshop. The workshop at LEI lasted for three days. The first day of the project started with greetings from the LEI Directorate to the participants, as well as a brief introduction to LEI's activities and laboratories. The leaders of the ICONDE project, Riga Technical University, presented the objectives and tasks of the project and shared the achievements during the implementation of the project. LEI scientists provided a general international practice overview on nuclear and radioactive waste classification and management. Invited guest from State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate (VATESI) provided information about Lithuanian requirements for radioactive waste management as well as participant from Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) provided knowledge on liquid radioactive waste treatment at the Ignalina NPP. In the second half of the day the workshop participants had the opportunity to visit the LEI laboratories.

ICONDE project conducts research about concrete design for hazardous waste management applications, which is connected to the decommissioning of the Ignalina NPP, particularly gamma radiation and neutron shielding. Therefore, a visit to the Ignalina NPP was organized on the second day of the workshop. The workshop participants visited the reactor hall, plant control room, the turbine hall and liquid radioactive waste treatment and storage facilities. Staff from Department of radioactive waste management of Ignalina NPP explained in detail about cementation process of liquid radioactive waste and answered the participant’s questions. 

The last day of the workshop was devoted to the coordination of further ICONDE project activities. The results of OSA material study performed by LEI scientists as well as activities in composite material modelling were discussed. The plan for the activities was agreed. The participants from all four project partner institutes were satisfied with the workshop and agreed that this event would positively impact project progress.