The Dutch Central Organization for Radioactive Waste (COVRA) is the only company in the Netherlands that is allowed to collect, process and store radioactive waste. This waste comes mainly from nuclear power plants. But also hospitals, research institutes and certain industries produce - a relatively very small amount - radioactive waste.
The company is located near the nuclear power plant in Borssele, where the company has a number of processing locations on 20 acres of land. The premises is large enough to process and store the radioactive waste that will be produced in The Netherlands over the next hundred years.
The liquids are burned in a special oven. The flue gases from these ovens are cleaned twice. First in a wet wash and then with a dry filter system. Larger solid parts are reduced in the roughing installation and then packed in concrete. Aqueous liquids are cleaned with a biological and chemical treatment. The cleaned water is discharged
Verder hose pumps and double diaphragm pumps are used as dosing pumps to make certain chemical compounds. These compounds are used to clean residual liquids that still contain pollution but are not radioactive anymore. The residual liquids are a.o. acids, alkalines, iron chloride and more.