Use of Depleted Uranium Silicate Glass to Minimize Release of Radionuclides from Spent Nuclear Fuel Waste Packages

Conference · Sun Feb 25 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:205968

Forsberg, Charles W. ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

A Depleted Uranium Silicate Container Backfill System (DUSCOBS) is proposed that would use small, isotopically depleted uranium silicate glass beads as a backfill material inside repository waste packages containing spent nuclear fuel (SNF). The uranium silicate glass beads would fill the void space inside the package including the coolant channels inside SNF assemblies. Based on preliminary analysis, the following benefits have been identified. DUSCOBS improves repository waste package performance by three mechanisms. First, it reduces the radionuclide releases from SNF when water enters the waste package by creating a local uranium silicate saturated groundwater environment that suppresses (a) the dissolution and/or transformation of uranium dioxide fuel pellets and, hence, (b) the release of radionuclides incorporated into the SNF pellets. Second, the potential for long-term nuclear criticality is reduced by isotopic exchange of enriched uranium in SNF with the depleted uranium (DU) in the glass. Third, the backfill reduces radiation interactions between SNF and the local environment (package and local geology) and thus reduces generation of hydrogen, acids, and other chemicals that degrade the waste package system. Finally, DUSCOBS provides a potential method to dispose of significant quantities of excess DU from uranium enrichment plants at potential economic savings. DUSCOBS is a new concept. Consequently, the concept has not been optimized or demonstrated in laboratory experiments.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-96OR22464
• OSTI ID: 205968
• Report Number(s): CONF-960271--3; ON: DE96006707
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
Away From Reactor (AFR)
CONTAINMENT
CRITICALITY
Depleted Uranium (DU)
Depleted Uranium Silicate Container Backfill System (DUSCOBS)
GROUND WATER
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
Multipurpose Canister (MPC)
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Pressurized-Water Reactor (PWR)
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SAFETY
SPENT FUELS
Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF)
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL