In its current design, the high-level nuclear waste containers include an external layer of Alloy 22 (NO6022). This material was selected to provide long-term corrosion resistance since if water enters in contact with the containers, they may undergo corrosion. The model for the degradation of the containers includes three modes of corrosion, namely general corrosion, localized corrosion and environmentally assisted cracking (EAC). The objective of the current research was to quantify the susceptibility of Alloy 22 to EAC in several environmental conditions with varying solution composition, temperature and electrochemical potential. The susceptibility to EAC was evaluated using constant deformation (deflection) U-bend specimens in both the wrought and welded conditions. Results show that after more than five years exposure in the vapor and liquid phases of alkaline (PH {approx} 10) and acidic (pH {approx} 3) multi-ionic environments at 60 C and 90 C, Alloy 22 was free from EAC.

The Scaled Thermal Explosion Experiment (STEX) has been developed to quantify the violence of thermal explosion under well defined and carefully controlled initial and boundary conditions. Here we present results with HMX-based explosives (LX-04 and PBX-9501) and with Composition B. Samples are 2 inches (50 mm) in diameter and 8 inches (200 mm) in length, under confinement of 7,500-30,000 psi (50-200 MPa), with heating rates of 1-3 C/hr. We quantify reaction violence by measuring the wall velocity in the ensuing thermal explosion, and relate the measured velocity to that expected from a detonation. Results with HMX-based explosives (LX-04 and PBX-9501) have shown the importance of confinement and HMX solid phase, with reaction violence ranging from mild pressure bursts to near detonations. By contrast, Composition B has shown very violent reactions over a wide range of conditions.

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Building 7602 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) was constructed in 1963 as a Reactor Service Building for the Experimental Gas-Cooled Reactor; the reactor was never fueled or operated, and the project was terminated in 1965. Significant building modifications were performed during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Beginning in 1984, separation processes and equipment development and testing were initiated for the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program (CFRP). The principal materials used in the processes were depleted and natural uranium, nitric acid, and organic solvents. CFRP operations continued until 1994 when the program was discontinued and the facility declared surplus to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Systems and equipment were shut down; feed and waste materials were removed; and process fluids, chemicals, and uranium were drained and flushed from systems. This paper will present an overview of the Building 7602 D&D activities, final radiological survey , facility modifications, and project interfaces.

Surface contamination evaluation is a tough problem since it is difficult to isolate the radiations emitted by the surface, especially in a highly irradiating atmosphere. In that case the only possibility is to evaluate smearable (removeable) contamination since ex-situ countings are possible. Unfortunately, according to our experience at CEA, these values are not consistent and thus non relevant. In this study, we show, using in-situ Fourier Transform Infra Red spectrometry on contaminated metal samples, that fixed contamination seems to be chemisorbed and removeable contamination seems to be physisorbed. The distribution between fixed and removeable contamination appears to be variable. Chemical equilibria and reversible ion exchange mechanisms are involved and are closely linked to environmental conditions such as humidity and temperature. Measurements of smearable contamination only give an indication of the state of these equilibria between fixed and removeable contamination at the time and in the environmental conditions the measurements were made.

In order to reduce costs and achieve schedules for Closure of the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS), the Waste Requirements Group has implemented a number of cost saving initiatives aimed at integrating waste volume reduction with the selection of compliant waste packaging methods for the disposal of RFETS low level radioactive waste (LLW). Waste Guidance Inventory and Shipping Forecasts indicate that over 200,000 m3 of low level waste will be shipped offsite between FY2002 and FY2006. Current projections indicate that the majority of this waste will be shipped offsite in an estimated 40,000 55-gallon drums, 10,000 metal and plywood boxes, and 5000 cargo containers. Currently, the projected cost for packaging, shipment, and disposal adds up to $80 million. With these waste volume and cost projections, the need for more efficient and cost effective packaging and transportation options were apparent in order to reduce costs and achieve future Site packaging a nd transportation needs. This paper presents some of the cost saving initiatives being implemented for waste packaging at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (the Site). There are many options for either volume reduction or alternative packaging. Each building and/or project may indicate different preferences and/or combinations of options.

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is operating under a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Hazardous Waste Facility Permit (HWFP) for contact-handled (CH) transuranic (TRU) waste. The HWFP contains limitations on allowable emissions from waste disposed in the underground. This environmental performance standard imposed on the WIPP consists of limiting volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from emplaced waste to ensure protection of human health and the environment. The standard is currently met by tracking individual waste container headspace gas concentrations, which are determined by headspace gas sampling and analysis of CH TRU waste containers. The WIPP is seeking a HWFP modification to allow the disposal of remote-handled (RH) TRU waste. Because RH TRU waste is limited to approximately 5% of the waste volume and is emplaced in the disposal room walls, it is possible to bound the potential RH TRU waste contribution to VOC emissions using conservative upper bounds. These conservative upper bounds were developed as an alternative to RH TRU waste canister headspace gas sampling and analysis. The methodology used to perform the calculations used to evaluate VOC emissions from emplaced RH TRU waste canisters applied the same equations as those used to evaluate VOC emissions in the …

The microcapsules enclosing two kinds of functional materials, inorganic ion-exchangers and organic extractants, were prepared by taking advantage of the high immobilization ability of alginate gel polymer. The fine powders of inorganic ion-exchanger and oil drops of extractant were kneaded with sodium alginate (NaALG) solution and the kneaded sol readily gelled in a salt solution of CaCl2, BaCl2 or HCl to form spherical gel particles. The uptake properties of various nuclides, 137Cs, 85Sr, 60Co, 88Y, 152Eu and 241Am, for thirty-four specimens of microcapsules in the presence of 10-1-10-4 M HNO3 were evaluated by the batch method. The distribution coefficient (Kd) of Cs+ above 103 cm3/g was obtained for the microcapsules enclosing CuFC or AMP. The Kd of Sr2+ around 102 cm3/g was obtained for the microcapsules containing clinoptilolite, antimonic acid, zeolite A, zeolite X or titanic acid. The microcapsules enclosing DEHPA exhibited relatively large Kd values of trivalent metal ions above 103 cm3/g; for example, the Kd values of Cs+, Sr2+, Co2+, Y3+, Eu3+ and Am3+ for a favorable microcapsule (CuFC/clinoptilolite/DEHPA/CaALG) were 1.1x104, 7.5x10, 1.1x10, 1.0x104, 1.4x104, 3.4x103 cm3/g, respectively. The uptake rates of Cs+, Y3+, Eu3+ and Am3+ for this microcapsule were rather fast; the uptake percentage above 90% …

Risk assessment and environmental impact analysis at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hanford Site in Washington State has made significant progress in refining the strategy for using risk analysis to support closing of several hundred waste sites plus 149 single-shell tanks at the Hanford Site. A Single-Shell Tank System Closure Work Plan outlines the current basis for closing the single-shell tank systems. An analogous site approach has been developed to address closure of aggregated groups of similar waste sites. Because of the complexity, decision time frames, proximity of non-tank farm waste sites to tank farms, scale, and regulatory considerations, various projects are providing integrated assessments to support risk analyses and decision-making. This paper will describe the approach for using risk assessment to support waste site and tank closure decisions, the tools being developed, and how integration of these risk assessments and analyses are being performed to ad dress near-term and longterm decisions.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is considering the possible recommendation of a site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for the potential development of a geologic repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Consequences of hypothetical disruption of the Yucca Mountain site by igneous activity or human intrusion have been evaluated in the Yucca Mountain Science and Engineering Report (S&ER) (1), which presents technical information supporting the consideration of the possible site recommendation. Since completion of the S&ER, supplemental analyses have examined possible impacts of new information and alternative assumptions on the estimates of the consequences of these events. Specifically, analyses of the consequences of igneous disruption address uncertainty regarding: (1) the impacts of changes in the repository footprint and waste package spacing on the probability of disruption; (2) impacts of alternative assumptions about the appropriat e distribution of future wind speeds to use in the analysis; (3) effects of alternative assumptions about waste particle sizes; and (4) alternative assumptions about the number of waste packages damaged by igneous intrusion; and (5) alternative assumptions about the exposure pathways and the biosphere dose conversion factors used in the analysis. Additional supplemental analyses, supporting the Final Environmental Impact …

Characterization, packaging, transport, handling and disposal of remotely handled transuranic (RH TRU) waste at WIPP will be different than similar operations with contact handled transuranic (CH TRU) waste. This paper presents results of technical evaluations associated with the planned disposal of remotely handled transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).

In 1997, the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Operations (ORO) Office awarded the Management and Integration (M&I) contract for all five of their Oak Ridge Operations facilities to Bechtel Jacobs Company, LLC (BJC). This paper will focus on the success and challenges of several of the M&I projects at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The initial goals for BJC were to transition up to 93% of their staff to the subcontract community as they moved away from operations to ''integration.'' The perspectives of BJC and one of their Remedial Action/Decontamination & Decommissioning (RADD) subcontractors will be combined in this paper to share with others how ''partnering'' together was essential for success. Projects completed by Safety and Ecology Corporation (SEC) under their RADD subcontract will be used to illustrate the process and the challenges/successes to completion. These projects will include pond remediation, tank remediation, and building cleanup for reuse. All these projects were ''fixed price'' with defined milestones keyed into award fee for BJC and regulatory milestones for DOE. By working together to form integrated teams focused on site remediation without sacrificing safety, all milestones were met. This paper will discuss the following items associated with the …

The controls on the potentiometric surface and temperature distribution at Yucca Mountain have long been thought to be related to major fault zones. The exact way the faults influence these distributions has been somewhat elusive. The parametric studies discussed in this paper show that the fault zone x, y and z permeability tensors, as well as the alignment of the fault zone in relation to the flow field (1), are major contributing factors in the pressure and temperature distributions. A series of runs were conducted for the State of Nevada with a 3-dimensional model utilizing the AT2VOC version of the A-TOUGH code (2),(3). The runs were conducted under steady state conditions and utilized fully coupled heat and flow conditions. The model setup and boundary conditions are fully described. Comparisons were done with varying degrees of anisotropic permeability ratios in the fault zones. The resulting temperature and pressure profiles are compared. The model, while simple, allowed us to examine the relationship of the head and temperature distributions to the position and permeability of major fault zones. It is our conclusion that the major faults included in this model do significantly affect the observed head and temperature distributions. Performance Assessments currently may …

The Murmansk Initiative-RF (MI) was conceived to provide the Russian Federation (RF) with the capacity to manage low-level liquid radioactive waste (LLRW) and comply with the requirements of the London Convention that prohibit ocean dumping. The trilateral project among Norway, the RF, and the United States of America (U.S.) began in 1994 and was the first to utilize exclusively Russian subcontractors to upgrade and expand an existing LLRW treatment plant on the premises of RTP Atomflot in Murmansk, Russia. The project moved quickly through the design phase. Progress during the construction phase was somewhat slower because of difficulties with acquisition of hardware, inexperience with automated instrumentation and control equipment, and unexpected design changes in the cementation unit. The project advanced into the test-operation phase, which is currently underway, in June 2001. Initial runs with liquid waste have revealed that procedures for unloading spent ion-exchange sorbents could be improved and that sludges formed during removal of alkaline-earth metals should be compacted in order for the facility to operate at its full potential. Resolution of these issues is expected within the next few months.

Moving hazardous chemicals presents the risk of exposure for workers engaged in the activity and others that might be in the immediate area. Adverse affects are specific to the chemicals and can range from minor skin, eye, or mucous membrane irritation, to burns, respiratory distress, nervous system dysfunction, or even death. A case study is presented where in the interest of waste minimization; original shipping packaging was removed from a glass bottle of nitric acid, while moving corrosive liquid through a security protocol into a Radiological Control Area (RCA). During the transfer, the glass bottle broke. The resulting release of nitric acid possibly exposed 12 employees with one employee being admitted overnight at a hospital for observation. This is a clear example of administrative controls to reduce the generation of suspect radioactive waste being implemented at the expense of employee health. As a result of this event, material handling procedures that assure the safe movement of hazardous chemicals through a security protocol into a radiological control area were developed. Specifically, hazardous material must be transferred using original shipping containers and packaging. While this represents the potential to increase the generation of suspect radioactive waste in a radiological controlled area, arguments …

In Italy following a referendum held in 1987, nuclear energy has been phased out. Since 1998, a general site selection process covering the whole Italian territory has been under way. A GIS (Geographic Information System) methodology was implemented in three steps using the ESRI Arc/Info and Arc/View platforms. The screening identified approximately 0.8% of the Italian territory as suitable for locating the LLW Repository. 200 areas have been identified as suitable for the location of the LLW Repository, using a multiple exclusion criteria procedure (1:500,000), regional scale (1:100.000) and local scale (1:25,000-1:10,000). A methodology for evaluating these areas has been developed allowing, along with the evaluation of the long term efficiency of the engineered barrier system (EBS), the characterization of the selected areas in terms of physical and safety factors and planning factors. The first step was to identify, on a referenced FEPs list, a group of geomorphological, geological, hydrogeological, climatic and human behavior caused process and/or events, which were considered of importance for the site evaluation, taking into account the Italian situation. A site evaluation system was established ascribing weighted scores to each of these processes and events, which were identified as parameters of the new evaluation system. The …

Naturally occurring radioactive material is technologically concentrated in the piping in systems in the oil and gas industry, especially in the offshore facilities. The activity, mainly Ra-226, in the scales in the systems are often at levels classified as low level radioactive waste (LSA) in the industry. When the components and pipes are descaled for maintenance or recycling purposes, usually by high-pressure water jetting, the LSA scales arising constitute a significant quantity of radioactive waste for disposal. A new process is under development for the treatment of scales, where the radioactive solids are separated from the inactive. This would result in a much smaller fraction to be deposited as radioactive waste. The radioactive part recovered from the scales will be reduced to a stable non-metallic salt and because the volume is significantly smaller then the original material, will minimize the cost for disposal. The pipes, that have been cleaned by high pressure water jetting can either be reused or free released by scrapping and melting for recycling.

The Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor (BGRR) Historical Site Assessment (BNL 1999) identified contamination inside the Below Grade Ducts (BGD) resulting from the deposition of fission and activation products from the pile on the inner carbon steel liner during reactor operations. Due to partial flooding of the BGD since shutdown, some of this contamination may have leaked out of the ducts into the surrounding soils. The baseline remediation plan for cleanup of contaminated soils beneath the BGD involves complete removal of the ducts, followed by surveying the underlying and surrounding soils, then removing soil that has been contaminated above cleanup goals. Alternatively, if soil contamination around and beneath the BGD is either non-existent/minimal (below cleanup goals) or is very localized and can be ''surgically removed'' at a reasonable cost, the BGD can be decontaminated and left in place. The focus of this Department of Energy Accelerated Site Technology Deployment (DOE ASTD) project was to determine the extent (location, type, and level) of soil contamination surrounding the BGD and to present this data to the stakeholders as part of the Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA) process. A suite of innovative characterization tools was used to complete the characterization of the soil surrounding the …

DOE's Office of River Protection (ORP) is readying itself to commence construction of a Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) that will start the process of turning Hanford tank waste into glass. The plant is state-of-the art and includes reasonable flexibility to improve operations as technology and operational understandings improve. During its 40 year design life the plant has the capability to treat half of the total volume of tank waste and reduce risk to the public by up to ninety percent. Looking beyond initial processing towards the project end state, however, it is apparent that ORP's baseline approach is part of the issue raised by the DOE Secretary when he said that $300 billion and 75 years is too costly and too long for DOE's environmental cleanups. ORP has reviewed its cost and schedule drivers and has started identifying areas where better technologies and risk-based strategies could substantially decrease its life cycle cost and schedule. Specific technologies under consideration will be discussed along with expected return on investment. ORP is totally committed to taking all steps necessary during cleanup to protect human health and the environment and to comply with appropriate regulations and commitments. But, ORP is also very conscious of …

This paper describes the progress on cleanup of the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP), an environmental management project located south of Buffalo, NY. The WVDP was the site of the only commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing facility to have operated in the United States (1966 to 1972). Former fuel reprocessing operations generated approximately 600,000 gallons of liquid high-level radioactive waste stored in underground tanks. The U.S. Congress passed the WVDP Act in 1980 (WVDP Act) to authorize cleanup of the 220-acre facility. The facility is unique in that it sits on the 3,345-acre Western New York Nuclear Service Center (WNYNSC), which is owned by New York State through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has overall responsibility for the cleanup that is authorized by the WVDP Act, paying 90 percent of the WVDP costs; NYSERDA pays 10 percent. West Valley Nuclear Services Company (WVNSCO) is the management contractor at the WVDP. This paper will provide a description of the many accomplishments at the WVDP, including the pretreatment and near completion of vitrification of all the site's liquid high-level radioactive waste, a demonstration of technologies to characterize the remaining material in the …

In Russia, mixed oxide (MOX) fuel is produced in a pilot facility ''Paket'' at ''MAYAK'' Production Association. The Mining-Chemical Combine (MCC) has developed plans to design and build a dedicated industrial-scale plant to produce MOX fuel and fuel assemblies (FA) for VVER-1000 water reactors and the BN-600 fast-breeder reactor, which is pending an official Russian Federation (RF) site-selection decision. The design output of the plant is based on a production capacity of 2.75 tons of weapons plutonium per year to produce the resulting fuel assemblies: 1.25 tons for the BN-600 reactor FAs and the remaining 1.5 tons for VVER-1000 FAs. It is likely the quantity of BN-600 FAs will be reduced in actual practice. The process of nuclear disarmament frees a significant amount of weapons plutonium for other uses, which, if unutilized, represents a constant general threat. In France, Great Britain, Belgium, Russia, and Japan, reactor-grade plutonium is used in MOX-fuel production. Making MOX-fuel for CANDU (Canada) and pressurized water reactors (PWR) (Europe) is under consideration in Russia. If this latter production is added, as many as 5 tons of Pu per year might be processed into new FAs in Russia. Many years of work and experience are represented in …

RH TRU Waste is radioactive waste that requires shielding in addition to that provided by the container to protect people nearby from radiation exposure. By definition, the radiation dose rate at the outer surface of the container is greater than 200 millirem per hour and less than 1,000 rem per hour. The DOE is proposing a process for the characterization of RH TRU waste planned for disposal in the WIPP. This characterization process represents a performance-driven approach that satisfies the requirements of the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations for WIPP long-term performance, the transportation requirements of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Department of Transportation, as well as the technical safety requirements of RH TRU waste handling. The transportation, management and disposal of RH TRU waste is regulated by external government agencies as well as by the DOE itself. Externally, the characterization of RH-TRU waste for disposal at the WIPP is regulated by 20.4.1.500 New Mexico Administrative Code (incorporating 40 CFR 261.13) for the hazardous constituents and 40 CFR 194.24 for the radioactive constituents. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission certifies the shipping casks and the transportation system must meet DOT regulations. Internally, the DOE …

In the technical paper there is presented the information on the basic equipment and more than thirty-year experience of RFNC-VNIIEF activities in the sphere of producing highly enriched isotopes of actinide elements--thorium, uranium, neptunium, plutonium, americium and curium--for scientific researches and practical applications. Electromagnetic separator and radiochemical methods provide obtaining of superpure isotope samples for nuclear-physical radiometric and mass-spectrometric equipment, and also as tracers when analyzing environmental contamination. There are presented the structure of the laboratory occupied with these isotopes electromagnetic separation as well as the nomenclature and characteristics of the specimens supplied. There are stated science and engineering elaborations of technologies aimed at producing alpha-ray radiating radionuclides--thorium-229, thorium-228, actinium-225, radium-224--for the purpose of anti-cancer therapy using bismuth-212 and bismuth-213 produced by the specially developed generators. There are presented the basic directions of cooperation with other Russian Institutes in developing this promising line of conversion.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) has developed draft documentation to present the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) remote-handled (RH-) transuranic (TRU) waste characterization program to its regulators, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New Mexico Environment Department. Compliance with Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 191 and 194; the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act (PL 102-579); and the WIPP Hazardous Waste Facility Permit, as well as the Certificates of Compliance for the 72-B and 10-160B Casks, requires that specific waste parameter limits be imposed on DOE sites disposing of TRU waste at WIPP. The DOE-CBFO must control the sites' compliance with the limits by specifying allowable characterization methods. As with the established WIPP contact handled TRU waste characterization program, the DOE-CBFO has proposed a Remote-Handled TRU Waste Acceptance Criteria (RH-WAC) document consolidating the requirements from various regulatory drivers and proposed allowable characterization methods. These criteria are consistent with the recommendation of a recent National Academy Sciences/National Research Council to develop an RH-TRU waste characterization approach that removes current self imposed requirements that lack a legal or safety basis. As proposed in the draft RH-WAC and other preliminary documents, the DOE-CBFO RH-TRU waste characterization program …