Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Chemical Engineering Division regarding studies of nuclear waste migration in geologic media. This report discusses research regarding nuclide migration and cesium absorption on limestone.

Progress report of the Argonne National Laboratory's Nuclear Technology Programs, including applied physical chemistry, separation science and technology, and high level waste and repository interactions.

Annual report of activities of the Argonne National Laboratory Physics Division, including research at ATLAS, medium-energy nuclear physics and weak interactions, theoretical nuclear physics, and atomic and molecular physics.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Radiological and Environmental Research Division regarding activities related to ecology. This report discuses programs including a development project for microcosm screening systems, two initiatives in ecological modeling, and a program of field experiments for a national assessment of crop losses due to air pollution.

Annual report of the Argonne National Laboratory Radiological and Environmental Research Division regarding activities related to ecology and funding issues during the year.

Argonne National Laboratory is decommissioning a facility used to fabricate reactor fuel elements. The equipment is contaminated with alpha emitters. The objective of decontamination is to reduce the TRU concentrations below 10 nCi/g of waste. A portable NDA procedure using Na I (TI ) gamma-spectrometric techniques was selected to measure the residual Pu and 2i 1 Am in the glove boxes. Assays were performed at different stages in the decontamination process to estimate the detection system sensitivity and the effectiveness of the cleaning efforts.

This report describes the design of a facility capable of the simultaneous testing of up to 50 high-temperature (400 to 500 C) lithium alloy/iron sulfide cells; this facility is located in the Chemical Engineering Division of Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The emphasis will be on the lifetime testing of cells fabricated by ANL and industrial contractors to acquire statistical data on the performance of cells of various designs. A computer-based data-acquisition system processes the cell performance data generated from the cells on test. The terminals and part of the data-acquisition equipment are housed in an air-conditioned enclosure adjacent to the testing facility; the computer is located remotely.

Aging of simulated nuclear waste glass by contact with a controlled-temperature, humid atmosphere results in the formation of a double hydration layer penetrating the glass, as well as the formation of minerals on the glass surface. The hydration process can be described by Arrhenius behavior between 120 and 240 C. Results suggest that simulated aging reactions are necessary for demonstrating that nuclear waste forms can meet projected Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations.

Progress report of the Argonne National Laboratory's Nuclear Technology Programs, including R&D in three areas: applied physical chemistry, separation science and technology, and nuclear waste management.

The Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility (RLWTF) at Argonne National Laboratory-West (ANL-W) in Idaho provides improved treatment for low-level aqueous waste compared to conventional systems. A unique, patented evaporated system is used in the RLWTF. SHADE (shielded hot air drum evaporator, US Patent No. 4,305,780) is a low-cost disposable unit constructed from standard components and is self-shielded. The results of testing and recent operations indicate that evaporation rates of 2 to 6 gph (8 to 23 L/h) can be achieved with a single unit housed in a standard 30-gal (114-L) drum container. The operating experience has confirmed the design evaporation rate of 60,000 gal (227,000 L) per year, using six SHADE's.

The COMMIX-1AR/P computer code is designed for analyzing the steady-state and transient aspects of single-phase fluid flow and heat transfer in three spatial dimensions. This version is an extension of the modeling in COMMIX-1A to include multiple fluids in physically separate regions of the computational domain, modeling descriptions for pumps, radiation heat transfer between surfaces of the solids which are embedded in or surround the fluid, a k-{var epsilon} model for fluid turbulence, and improved numerical techniques. The porous-medium formulation in COMMIX allows the code to be applied to a wide range of problems involving both simple and complex geometrical arrangements. The basic equations, underlying assumptions, and solution techniques are presented for the entire computer code, covering both old and new features.

Section I introduces the material contained in the rest of the report. Section II presents the origin and characteristics of humic materials as we understand them today and outlines the methods that have been used to separate and analyze these substances. Section III focuses on the general problem of metal-organic interactions and treats some of the factors that are important in chelating and complexing of metal ions by humic substances. Section IV deals specifically with the complexing of radionuclides by organic substances, treated from the standpoint of both empirical and experimental studies.

Borosilicate glass is to be used for permanent disposal of high-level nuclear waste in a geologic repository. Mechanistic chemical models are used to predict the rate at which radionuclides will be released from the glass under repository conditions. The most successful and useful of these models link reaction path geochemical modeling programs with a glass dissolution rate law that is consistent with transition state theory. These models have been used to simulate several types of short-term laboratory tests of glass dissolution and to predict the long-term performance of the glass in a repository. Although mechanistically based, the current models are limited by a lack of unambiguous experimental support for some of their assumptions. The most severe problem of this type is the lack of an existing validated mechanism that controls long-term glass dissolution rates. Current models can be improved by performing carefully designed experiments and using the experimental results to validate the rate-controlling mechanisms implicit in the models. These models should be supported with long-term experiments to be used for model validation. The mechanistic basis of the models should be explored by using modern molecular simulations such as molecular orbital and molecular dynamics to investigate both the glass structure and …

The germanium-lithium argon scanning system (GLASS) was installed in EBR-II to monitor and analyze the gamma activity of the reactor cover gas and the reactor building air. GLASS has the capability to identify and measure 20 or more gamma peaks. Applied to the reactor cover gas, this capability has proven useful in identifying the source of fission-gas leakage from fuel elements. The gamma-peak data can clearly distinguish a carbide-fuel source from an oxide-fuel source and can often help distinguish and oxide-fuel source from a metallic-fuel source.

Report issued by the Argonne national Laboratory discussing a technical and economic evaluation of a direct-cycle light-water boiling reactor designed for natural circulation and internal steam-water separation. The reference 100-Mw(e) reactor power plant design evolved from the study should have the best chance (compared to similar plants) of approaching the 8 to 9 mill/kwh total power-cost level. This report includes tables, and illustrations.

Report describing the research and development activities related to reactor fuels and fast-reactor programs conducted by the Argonne National Laboratory Chemical Engineering Division.

By means of the unsteady-flow theory and a bilinear mathematical model, a theoretical study was conducted of the chaotic dynamics associated with the fluid-elastic instability of loosely supported tubes. Calculations were performed for the RMS of tube displacement, bifurcation diagram, phase portrait, power spectral density, and Poincare map. Analytical results show the existence of chaotic, quasi-periodic, and periodic regions when flow velocity exceeds a threshold value.

In this study, we developed a coupled model of wind-induced vibration of a stack, based on an unsteady-flow theory and nonlinear dynamics of the stack's heavy elastic suspended cables. Numerical analysis was performed to identify excitation mechanisms. The stack was found to be excited by vortex shedding. Once lock-in resonance occurred, the cables were excited by the transverse motion of the stack. Large-amplitude oscillations of the cables were due to parametric resonance. Appropriate techniques have been proposed to alleviate the vibration problem.

The aqueous biphasic extraction (ABE) process for soil decontamination involves the selective partitioning of solutes and fine particulates between two immiscible aqueous phases. The biphase system is generated by the appropriate combination of a water-soluble polymer (e.g., polyethylene glycol) with an inorganic salt (e.g., sodium carbonate). Selective partitioning results in 99 to 99.5% of the soil being recovered in the cleaned-soil fraction, while only 0.5 to 1% is recovered in the contaminant concentrate. The ABE process is best suited to the recovery of ultrafine, refractory material from the silt and clay fractions of soils. During continuous countercurrent extraction tests with soil samples from the Fernald Environmental Management Project site (Fernald, OH), particulate thorium was extracted and concentrated between 6- and 16-fold, while the uranium concentration was reduced from about 500 mg/kg to about 77 mg/kg. Carbonate leaching alone was able to reduce the uranium concentration only to 146 mg/kg. Preliminary estimates for treatment costs are approximately $160 per ton of dry soil. A detailed flowsheet of the ABE process is provided.

A series of polymer-based extraction systems, based on the use of polyethylene glycols (PEGs) or polypropylene glycols (PPGs), was demonstrated to be capable of selective extraction and recovery of long-lived radionuclides, such as Tc-99 and I-129, from Hanford SY-101 tank waste, neutralized current acid waste, and single-shell tank waste simulants. During the extraction process, anionic species like TcO₄⁻ and I⁻ are selectively transferred to the less dense PEG-rich aqueous phase. The partition coefficients for a wide range of inorganic cations and anions, such as sodium, potassium, aluminum, nitrate, nitrite, and carbonate, are all less than one. The partition coefficients for pertechnetate ranged from 12 to 50, depending on the choice of waste simulant and temperature. The partition coefficient for iodide was about 5, while that of iodate was about 0.25. Irradiation of the PEG phase with gamma-ray doses up to 20 Mrad had no detectable effect on the partition coefficients. The most selective extraction systems examined were those based on PPGs, which exhibited separation factors in excess of 3000 between TcO₄⁻ and NO₃⁻/NO₂⁻. An advantage of the PPG-based system is minimization of secondary waste production. These studies also highlighted the need for exercising great care in extrapolating the partitioning behavior …

An analysis has been made of the combined motion of fuel and coolant due to fuel-coolant interactions following a massive fuel failure in a high-ramp overpower transient. The motion of fuel and coolant was described using a two-fluid model formulation in which the mixture of sodium liquid and vapor and of fission gas, on the one hand, and the fuel particles, on the other, were treated as two superimposed continua. The method of solution employed a numerical procedure called the ACE method, a modified version of the IMF technique.

Computer model simulation is required to evaluate the performance of proposed or future high-level radioactive waste geological repositories. However, the accuracy of a model in predicting the real situation depends on how well the values of the transport properties are prescribed as input parameters. Knowledge of transport parameters is therefore essential. We have modeled ANL's Experiment Analog Program which was designed to simulate long-term radwaste migration process by groundwater flowing through a high-level radioactive waste repository. Using this model and experimental measurements, we have evaluated neptunium (actinide) deposition velocity and analyzed the complex phenomena of simultaneous deposition, erosion, and re-entrainment of bentonite when groundwater is flowing through a narrow crack in a basalt rock. The present modeling demonstrates that we can obtain the values of transport parameters, as added information without any additional cost, from the available measurements of laboratory analog experiments.

The present cladding-relocation model was applied to L- and R-series test conditions in which the pin bundles were small. The results were consistent with the experimental observation and with SAS calculations. One of the key assumptions of this model was that total pressure drop over the voided channel could be supplied as a boundary condition for the vapor-momentum equation. The parametric study of the total pressure drop was carefully performed for the FFTF-type subassembly, and the oscillatory pressure effect to the streaming sodium vapor generated by the chugging of the lower level of liquid sodium was also investigated.

Available information on the corrosion behavior and mechanical properties of structural materials in a high-temperature sodium environment has been reviewed to compile a data base for selection of materials for advanced central-receiver solar-power systems, for which sodium is being considered as a heat-transfer fluid and thermal-storage medium. Candidate materials for this application (e.g., Types 304, 316, and 321 stainless steel, Alloy 800, and Fe-2 1/4 Cr-1Mo and Fe-9Cr-1Mo ferritic steels) have been used in the construction of various components for liquid-metal fast-breeder reactors in this country and abroad with considerable success. Requirements for additional information on material properties in a sodium environment are identified. The additional data coupled with more quantitative deformation models, failure criteria, and component design rules will further reduce uncertainties in the assessment of performance limits and component reliability in large sodium heat-transport systems.