Material Sample Collection with Tritium and Gamma Analyses at the University of Illinois's Nuclear Research Laboratory TRIGA Nuclear Research Reactor
- New Millennium Nuclear Technologies, 575 Union Blvd, Suite 102, Lakewood, CO 80228 (United States)
The University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana has an Advanced TRIGA reactor facility which was built in 1960 and operated until August 1998. The facility was shutdown for a variety of reasons, primarily due to a lack of usage by the host institution. In 1998 the reactor went into SAFSTOR and finally shipped its fuel in 2004. At the present time a site characterization and decommissioning plan are in process and hope to be submitted to the NRC in early 2006. The facility had to be fully characterized and part of this characterization involved the collection and analysis of samples. This included various solid media such as, concrete, graphite, metals, and sub-slab surface soils for immediate analysis of Activation and Tritium contamination well below the easily measured surfaces. This detailed facility investigation provided a case to eliminate historical unknowns, increasing the confidence for the segregation and packaging of high specific activity Low Level Radwaste (LLRW), from which a strategy of 'surgical-demolition' and segregation could be derived thus maximizing the volumes of 'clean material'. Performing quantitative volumetric concrete or metal radio-analyses safer and faster (without lab intervention) was a key objective of this dynamic characterization approach. Currently, concrete core bores are shipped to certified laboratories where the concrete residue is run through a battery of tests to determine the contaminants. The existing core boring operation volatilises or washes out some of the contaminants (like tritium) and oftentimes cross-contaminates the are a around the core bore site. The volatilization of the contaminants can lead to airborne problems in the immediate vicinity of the core bore. Cross-contamination can increase the contamination area and thereby increase the amount of waste generated that needs to be treated and stabilized before disposal. The goal was to avoid those field activities that could cause this type of release. Therefore, TRUPRO{sup R}, a sampling and profiling tool in conjunction with radiometric instrumentation was utilized to produce contamination profiles through the material being studied. All samples (except metals) on-site were analyzed within 10 minutes for tritium using a calibrated portable liquid scintillation counter (LSC) and analyzed for gamma activation products using a calibrated ISOCS. Improved sample collection with near real time analysis along with more historical hazard analysis enhanced significantly over the baseline coring approach the understanding of the depth distribution of contaminants. The water used in traditional coring can result in a radioactive liquid waste that needs to be dealt with. This would have been an issue at University of Illinois. Considerable time, risk reduction and money are saved using this profiling approach. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 13023, Tucson, AZ, 85732-3023 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21208578
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-09-WM-06061; TRN: US09V0889079365
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste Management 2006 Symposium - WM'06 - Global Accomplishments in Environmental and Radioactive Waste Management: Education and Opportunity for the Next Generation of Waste Management Professionals, Tucson, AZ (United States), 26 Feb - 2 Mar 2006; Other Information: Country of input: France
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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