Setting up of drill rig in front of chamber 7 concluded
View of the control desk of the drill rig, below left is the pneumatic hose for the drilled material.
The setting-up of the drill rig for the first drilling through the sealing structure of emplacement chamber 7 on the 750-m level has been concluded. Asse-GmbH staff and external experts are now checking to see whether all components have been installed and assembled correctly before the prescribed acceptances will take place.
Parallel to this, the drilling staff and the radiation protection staff will be trained: They exercise all operational sequences up to the smallest detail exactly, in particular what they should do in unforeseeable events or incidents, for in these cases every move has to be perfect.
Separate bin for the cuttings.
Safety devices to catch cuttings
The handling of individual components of the drill rig or the preventer could already be exercised during the operational testing of the drill rig on the 800-m level. With drillings into a mine area where no radioactive waste has been stored the handling of the drilling equipment, the safety equipment and the examination devices were put to the test.
Radioactive materials could at first be found in the cuttings bunker where the cuttings produced in the drilling process are caught. For that reason the cuttings bunker has been separated from the working area.
Also the measurement containers where the cuttings will be examined for radioactivity later on, have meanwhile been equipped completely and are ready for acceptance.
Implementation of requirements on drilling requires more time
In the weeks to come, the individual acceptances needed to comply with the requirements will gradually be made before the overall acceptance can take place at the end of this process.
The licence for the implementation of step 1 of the trial phase (fact finding) according to § 9 AtG issued by the Lower Saxon Environment Ministry is subject to 32 requirements which the BfS is complying with in 1,400 work steps. Though all facilities and monitoring equipment have now been set up in front of emplacement chamber 7 the emplacement chamber will not be drilled into in this year. The implementation of the requirements resulting from the licence requires more time.
For example, it is currently not possible to ensure the extensive supply with nitrogen required in the licence. The nitrogen should be supplied by lorry in case of a fire in the emplacement chamber. So far no company has been able to fulfil the given requirements. Therefore, a time-consuming road needs to be followed, i.e. an own air separation plant needs to be installed and operated in the mine. This requires applying for new licences.