Investigation of chemical and radiological aging of simulated Hanford ferrocyanide wastes
- Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States); and others
Radioactive waste resulting from the production of defense nuclear materials has been stored in underground storage tanks at the Hanford Site since the early 1940s. Radiocesium scavenging campaigns conducted in the 1950s, involving carrier-precipitation of cesium nickel ferrocyanide by addition of sodium ferrocyanide and nickel sulfate, added large quantities of ferrocyanide (about 145 metric tons) to the waste. Subsequent operations added other highly basic wastes to the ferrocyanide sludge. This paper reports studies into how the ferrocyanide sludge may have chemically and radiolytically changed, or aged, after being in contact for over 40 years with caustic wastes in a radiation field. Aging studies were conducted using simulated Hanford ferrocyanide wastes and the effects of temperature, gamma dose rate, and pH on solubility and hydrolysis were investigated. The results of these studies will be reported in this presentation.
- OSTI ID:
- 370565
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960376--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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