New Equipment and Techniques for Remote Sampling of Stored Radioactive Waste
Radioactive waste is stored at the Savannah River Site (SRS), part of the Department of Energy (DOE) complex. This radioactive waste is stored in buried tanks and management of the waste requires several processes, including material addition, heating, cooling, mixing, and transfer from tank to tank. During waste processing, it is necessary to know the chemical components and their characteristics to determine the steps necessary to maintain the waste form or to manipulate the waste into the form desired. Waste characterization begins by obtaining a sample for analysis. High level radioactive waste sampling is routinely done with simple, standard samplers such as a dip sample. Other sampling is non-routine or specialized, with unique, special requirements, such as sampling remote areas that are difficult to reach. Other specialized sampling includes sampling materials with unknown characteristics or material that must be gathered to obtain an adequate sample or materials that must be broken up to sample or forcibly separated from the tank. The samplers described in this paper are specialized samplers. These samplers include the Dip Filter Sampler, Soft Core Sampler, Hard Core Sampler, Circle Scrape Sampler, Small Scrape Sampler, Suction and Strain Sampler, and Vial Snapper Sampler. The Dip Filter Sampler is used to sample floating particulate matter or floating organic matter. The Soft Core Sampler and Hard Core Sampler are used to obtain samples of solids from the tank floor. The Soft Core Sampler is used on soft solids such as sludge and saltcake and the Hard Core Sampler on hardened solid deposits. The Circle Scrape Sampler is used to obtain solid samples through a small entry riser and out from under the riser. The Small Scrape Sampler enters a small entry riser and is used to scrape a sample from the tank wall. The Suction and Strain Sampler is used to gather a remote submerged sample or filter a solid sample from supernate. The Vial Snapper Grab Sampler is used to sample a wide variety of materials from the tank floor, submerged under supernate, or from the supernate at variable depths. Sampler development must take into account several design considerations, including safety and minimal personnel exposure, and criticality and hazardous energy concerns. Ease of operation is desired with quick, efficient sample handling on the tank top and in the lab. The sample size needed for analysis, the transport container size, and the need for camera support are additional considerations. Other criteria used in Sampler design include minimizing services required for operation of the sampler, minimizing the sampler cost and the cost to dispose of the sampler. This paper describes the tank environment to be sampled, design criteria used in sampler development, and the specialized samplers developed. The samplers will be defined by their function, components, and capacity. The sampler selection process and the deployment of these devices will also be described.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-96SR18500
- OSTI ID:
- 773569
- Report Number(s):
- WSRC-MS-2000-00520; TRN: US0100794
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 9th Topical on Robotics and Remote Systems, Seattle, WA (US), 03/04/2001--03/08/2001; Other Information: PBD: 16 Jan 2001
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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