Degradation of transuranic waste drums in underground storage at the Hanford Site
- Westinghouse Hanford Company, Richland, WA (United States)
In situ inspections were performed on tarp-covered 55-gallon drums of transuranic (TRU) waste stored underground at the Hanford Site. These inspections were part of a task to characterize TRU drums for extent of corrosion degradation and uncertainty in TRU designation (inaccuracy in earlier assay determinations may have led to drums that actually were low-level waste to be termed TRU), and to attempt to correlate accuracy of existing records with actual drum contents. Two separate storage trench sites were investigated; a total of 90 drums were inspected with ultrasonic techniques and 104 additional drums were visually inspected. A high-humidity environment in the underground storage trenches had been reported in earlier investigations and was expected to result in substantial corrosion degradation. However, corrosion was much less than expected. Only a small percentage of drums had significant corrosion (with one breach) and the maximum rate was estimated at 0.051 mm/yr (2 mils/yr). The corrosion time of underground exposure was 14 to 15 years. These inspection results should be applicable to other similar environments (this applicability should be restricted to arid climates such as the Hanford Site) where drums are stored underground but shielded from direct soil contact by a tarp or other means. Soil contact would lead to more rapid corrosion.
- OSTI ID:
- 469756
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960804-Vol.1; TRN: 97:008571
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: SPECTRUM `96: international conference on nuclear and hazardous waste management, Seattle, WA (United States), 18-23 Aug 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the international topical meeting on nuclear and hazardous waste management (SPECTRUM `96): Volume 1; PB: 885 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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