Utilizing Divers in Support of Spent Fuel Basin Closure Subproject
A number of nuclear facilities in the world are aging and with this comes the fact that we have to either keep repairing them or decommission them. At the Department of Energy Idaho Site (DOEID) there are a number of facilities that are being decommissioned, but the facilities that pose the highest risk to the large aquifer that flows under the site are given highest priorities. Aging spent nuclear fuel pools at DOE-ID are among the facilities that pose the highest risk, therefore four pools were targeted for decommissioning in Fiscal Year 2004. To accomplish this task the Idaho Completion Project (ICP) of Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC, put together an integrated Basin Closure Subproject team. The team was assigned a goal to look beyond traditional practices at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) to find ways to get the basin closure work done safer and more efficiently. The Idaho Completion Project (ICP) was faced with a major challenge – cleaning and preparing aging spent nuclear fuel basins for closure by removing sludge and debris, as necessary, and removing water to eliminate a potential risk to the Snake River Plain Aquifer. The project included cleaning and removing water from four basins. Two of the main challenges to a project like this is the risk of contamination from the basin walls and floors becoming airborne as the water is removed and keeping personnel exposures ALARA. ICP’s baseline plan had workers standing at the edges of the basins and on rafts or bridge cranes and then using long-handled tools to manually scrub the walls of basin surfaces. This plan had significant risk of skin contamination events, workers falling into the water, or workers sustaining injuries from the awkward working position. Analysis of the safety and radiation dose risks presented by this approach drove the team to look for smarter ways to get the work done.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho Completion Project (ICP)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE - EM
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-99ID-13727
- OSTI ID:
- 911077
- Report Number(s):
- ICP/CON-05-00750; TRN: US0704382
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2005 International ALARA Symposium,Fort Lauderdale, Flordia,01/09/2005,01/13/2005
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
AGING
ALARA
AQUIFERS
CLEANING
CLOSURES
CONTAMINATION
DECOMMISSIONING
INJURIES
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEAR FUELS
PERSONNEL
RADIATION DOSES
SAFETY
SLUDGES
SNAKE RIVER PLAIN
SPENT FUELS
WATER
closure
D&D
Divers
fuel basins
spent fuel