Drying behavior of K-East canister sludge

Technical Report · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/290906· OSTI ID:290906

Abrefah, J; Buchanan, H C; Marschman, S C

A series of tests were conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to evaluate the drying behavior of sludge taken from the Hanford K-East Basin storage canisters. Some of the components of K-Basin sludge, such as oxides of uranium and its hydrates, could be associated with the spent nuclear fuel that will ultimately be loaded into Multi-Canister Overpacks (MCOs) and transferred to interim dry storage on the Hanford Site. The materials sealed in the MCOs must be compatible with the storage facility safety basis and the design accident analyses. Understanding the drying behavior of hydrates that may be formed by the reaction of uranium oxides (corrosion products) and water will help ensure these criteria are addressed. Drying measurements of sludge samples collected from K-East Basin canisters showed the water content (physically plus chemically bound) to range between 5 wt% and 75 wt%. Uranium oxide hydrates, the main source of gaseous products that can pressurize the MCOs during storage, constituted about 3 wt% to 15 wt% of the total water content of the initial weight. Most of the physically bound water was assumed to be released from the samples at ambient temperature when the system was pumped down to vacuum conditions of about 40 mTorr. The period for release of most free water in the K-East canister sludge was about 24 hours.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 290906
• Report Number(s): PNNL--11628; ON: DE98054162; BR: N/A
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
DRYING
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FUEL STORAGE POOLS
HANFORD RESERVATION
HYDRATES
KINETICS
MOISTURE
SLUDGES
THERMAL DEGRADATION
URANIUM OXIDES