Recent results on the solubility of uranium and plutonium in Savannah River Site waste supernate
- Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River Technology Center
The high-activity waste from Savannah River Site fuel reprocessing is stored as a two-layered mixture in mild steel tanks. The solid layer contains the hydrolyzable cations, including most of the actinides; the supernatant liquid is a strong base-salt solution that includes {sup 137}Cs. To gain storage capacity, the supernate is evaporated to solids, then redissolved for waste processing. The solubility of uranium and plutonium in the supernate is low, but evaporation raises the possibility of an accumulation in the evaporator. This study of uranium and plutonium solubility by statistical design experiments and under simulated evaporator conditions found that uranium solubility decreases to 5 to 10 ppm as the supernate is evaporated; plutonium solubility increases from 1 to {approximately}10 ppm. The possibility of uranium accumulation in an evaporator exists, but the possibility of plutonium accumulation appears to be small.
- OSTI ID:
- 264328
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Technology, Vol. 114, Issue 3; Other Information: PBD: Jun 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
URANIUM
SOLUBILITY
PLUTONIUM
SAFETY ANALYSIS
CESIUM 137
EVAPORATION
STORAGE FACILITIES
MATERIALS HANDLING
VOLUME
EVAPORATORS