The TRUPACT-II Matrix Depleton Program
- Lockheed Idaho Technologies Co., Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Benchmark Environmental Corp., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Contact-handled transuranic (CH-TRU) wastes will be shipped and disposed at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) repository in the Transuranic Package Transporter-II (TRUPACT-II) shipping package. A primary transportation requirement for the TRUPACT-II is that the concentration of potentially flammable gases (i.e., hydrogen and methane) must not exceed 5 percent by volume in the package or the payload during a 60-day shipping period. Decomposition of waste materials by radiation, or radiolysis, is the predominant mechanism of gas generation during transport. The gas generation potential of a target waste material is characterized by a G-value, which is the number of molecules of gas generated per 100 eV of ionizing radiation absorbed by the target material. To demonstrate compliance with the flammable gas concentration requirement, theoretical worst-case calculations were performed to establish allowable wattage (decay heat) limits for waste containers. The calculations were based on the G-value for the waste material with the highest potential for flammable gas generation. The calculations also made no allowances for decreases of the G-value over time due to matrix depletion phenomena that have been observed by many experimenters. Matrix depletion occurs over time when an alpha-generating source particle alters the target material (by evaporation, reaction, or decomposition) into a material of lower gas generating potential. The net effect of these alterations is represented by the ``effective G-value.``
- Research Organization:
- Lockheed Idaho Technologies Co., Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC07-94ID13223
- OSTI ID:
- 162483
- Report Number(s):
- INEL-95/00460; CONF-950216-159; ON: DE96003508; TRN: 96:003141
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste management `95, Tucson, AZ (United States), 26 Feb - 2 Mar 1995; Other Information: PBD: [1995]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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