Regular Article

ICARUS: development, optimization, and harmonization of innovative characterization techniques for large volumes of radioactive waste

¹ Nuclear Research & Consultancy Group (NRG PALLAS), Westerduinweg 3, 1755 LE, Petten, The Netherlands
² L&ILW Engineering Department of ENRESA, Emilio Vargas 7, 28043 Madrid, Spain
³ State Enterprise State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety, V.Stusa Street, 35-37, 03142 Kyiv, Ukraine
⁴ Technical University of Denmark, Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, DTU Risø Campus, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
⁵ CAEN S.p.A., Via Vetraia 11, Viareggio, (LU), Italy
⁶ SCK CEN Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN), Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium
⁷ Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova Cesta 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
⁸ VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Kivimiehentie 3, 02044 VTT Espoo, Finland
⁹ FTMC State research institute Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Savanorių Ave. 231, LT-02300 Vilnius, Lithuania
¹⁰ Politecnico di Milano – Department of Energy, Via La Masa 34, Milano, 20156, Italy

^* e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Received: 8 February 2025
Received in final form: 10 February 2025
Accepted: 27 August 2025
Published online: 23 September 2025

Abstract

In the framework of the EURAD-2 partnership, the ICARUS (Innovative ChARacterization techniques for large volUmeS) work package aims at further developing, optimizing and harmonizing innovative techniques for the radiological, physical and chemical characterization of large volume of low/intermediate-level mixed waste, as it could be critical for the safe implementation of radioactive waste management programmes of the member states. Destructive Techniques (DT), Non-Destructive Techniques (NDT), and Scaling Factors (SF) will be investigated. Four use cases will be considered according to the end users’ needs: (i) enabling fast and sufficiently accurate characterization of gamma activity distribution by NDT in complex large packages, including mixed wastes as heterogeneous legacy waste; (ii) improving and simplifying NDT for determining physico-chemical properties; (iii) improving sensitivity, accuracy, and uncertainty and replacing the expensive and time-consuming radiochemical analysis of long-lived Difficult To Measure (DTM) radionuclides by DT; (iv) improving accuracy, uncertainty, and reliability of the SF approach to estimate DTM radionuclides in raw mixed waste. Specific education and training materials and opportunities will be provided to foster career advancement of young professionals and researchers. The research activities will be carried out by 29 organizations from 17 countries.