Historical reprocessing of spent fuel and HLW management at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant
- Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies, Idaho Falls, ID (United States); and others
The Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP), which is a part of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL), has stored and reprocessed irradiated nuclear fuel since 1953 to recover uranium-235, neptunium-237 and krypton-85 for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies. The primary focus of the reprocessing at ICPP was on fuels that contained highly enriched uranium for recovery of the fissile uranium with no plutonium recovery. A total of 31,432 kg uranium containing highly enriched U-235 was recovered from 1953 through 1991. The product was shipped to Oak Ridge for reuse in DOE reactors, originally as uranyl nitrate and later as uranium trioxide after a fluidized-bed denitration process became operational in 1971. There are currently over 100 identified types of special nuclear fuel at the INEL including 156 metric tons (MT) of graphite based fuels, 240 MT of naval propulsion fuels, and 474 MT of others including zirconium, aluminum, and stainless steel based. The acidic high-level liquid radioactive waste (HLLW) is stored in stainless-steel 1100 m{sup 3} single-shell tanks in underground concrete vaults. A solidification process was developed to form a granular calcine solid from the acidic HLLW with a seven-fold volume reduction. The Waste Calcining Facility (WCF) processed 15,000 m{sup 3} of HLLW to 2,160 m{sup 3} calcine from 1963 to 1980 and was succeeded by the New Waste Calcining Facility in 1982 which has calcined over 12,100 m{sup 3} of HLLW to 1670 m{sup 3} of calcine. This paper reviews some of the key decision points in the historical development of spent fuel reprocessing and waste management practices which has helped the ICPP successfully accomplish its mission safely and with minimal impact on the environment.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC07-94ID13223
- OSTI ID:
- 476593
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960804-Vol.3; TRN: 97:009132
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: SPECTRUM `96: international conference on nuclear and hazardous waste management, Seattle, WA (United States), 18-23 Aug 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the international topical meeting on nuclear and hazardous waste management (SPECTRM `96): Volume 3; PB: 843 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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