Below Regulatory Concern Owners Group: Radionuclide characterization of potential BRC waste types from nuclear power stations: Final report
The objective of this study was to perform a detailed radiological characterization and statistical assessment of the measured radionuclide distributions for four candidate ''below regulatory concern'' (BRC) waste types from commercial nuclear power stations. These measurements and statistical evaluations will provide the bases for conducting detailed dose assessments associated with various disposal options for BRC wastes. The four waste types selected were dry active waste (DAW), oil, soil, and secondary side ion exchange resin. The measurement included gamma-spectrometric analyses of 558 total samples, including 102 DAW samples, 231 oil samples, 142 soil samples, and 83 resin samples. Radionuclides usually detected during the gamma spectrometry included /sup 60/Co, /sup 137/Cs, /sup 134/Cs, /sup 54/Mn, and /sup 58/Co. Frequently, /sup 95/Zr, /sup 95/Nb, /sup 106/Ru, and /sup 125/Sb were detected, especially in wastes from plants which had experienced a relatively high rate of fuel cladding failures. Selected aliquots of the gamma-counted samples were radiochemically analyzed for /sup 14/C, /sup 55/Fe, /sup 63/Ni, /sup 90/Sr, /sup 129/I, /sup 238/Pu, and /sup 239,240/Pu. The gamma-emitting radionuclides in the BRC wastes, which are the primary contributors to the limiting dose to the general population for BRC waste disposal, were dominated by /sup 60/Co and /sup 137/Cs. The variability in the major gamma-emitting nuclides was assessed as a function of reactor type and waste stream. A similar evaluation was conducted for the difficult-to-measure radionuclides. From these assessments, it was concluded that the variability in radionuclide composition from all waste streams and all plants was sufficiently small to justify the development of a single, conservative radionuclide composition that would be representative of the BRC waste generated at commercial US nuclear power stations.
- Research Organization:
- Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (USA); Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 6325449
- Report Number(s):
- EPRI-NP-5677
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
BWR TYPE REACTORS
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
PWR TYPE REACTORS
COBALT 60
GAMMA RADIATION
PROGRESS REPORT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS
RADIOISOTOPES
RESINS
SOLID WASTES
STATISTICAL DATA
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
COBALT ISOTOPES
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DOCUMENT TYPES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
INFORMATION
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
IONIZING RADIATIONS
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
PETROCHEMICALS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
POLYMERS
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
RADIATIONS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
REACTORS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
210200* - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled
210100 - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Boiling Water Cooled
052000 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Management