A comprehensive review on decontamination of irradiated graphite waste

The complete and safe disposal of large irradiated graphite waste from nuclear reactors has attracted worldwide attention. The core target for the treatment of irradiated graphite is to decontaminate the trace radioactive elements. The reviewed investigation mainly focused on the performance of the decontamination method of irradiated graphite based on the current available literature. Survey to fabrication, structure and radioactivity of nuclear graphite was first introduced. Several common treatment technologies (incineration, thermal treatment, electrochemical or chemical treatment, plasma technique, molten salt flameless oxidation and self-sustaining high-temperature synthesis) were summarized. The recommendations, standpoints and potential research on the decontamination method of irradiated graphite were highlighted. The work presented would contribute to the information and experience to build decontamination methods and develop new technologies.