Evaluation of waste tank 16 using a field mercury analyzer

Technical Report · Thu May 12 00:00:00 EDT 1988

OSTI ID:5083483

Looney, B; Cook, J R

Liquid radioactive wastes from the chemical processing of nuclear materials at the Savannah River Plant (SRP) are stored in large tanks buried near the ground surface. Each tank has multiple containment barriers designed to prevent leakage to the surrounding soil and groundwater. The only incident in which waste leaked through the multiple containment of a waste tank at SRP occurred at Tank 16 on September 8, 1960 (Poe, 1974; Prendergast, 1982). Tank 16 was built in 1955 and has a capacity of approximately one million gallons. Tank 16 consists of a steel primary containment vessel resting in a shallow steel pan. A massive concrete encasement surrounds the tank and pan. After the leak in 1960, the tank was removed from service until 1967; at that time it was placed into service for lower activity wastes. In 1972 the tank was removed from service. Subsequently, all of the waste except a sludge heel of 67,000 gallons was removed from the tank. In 1980, this sludge was removed. Following the sludge removal, the tank was exhaustively cleaned and rinsed. Concentrations of radioactivity in the rinsewater suggested that the cleaning of the tank was effective (West and Morris, 1980). Recently, there has been concern about residual nonradioactive constituents, such as mercury, in the tank. To assist in evaluating the potential for residual mercury contamination, a survey method was developed and a survey of several tanks was conducted. 3 refs., 1 tab.

• Research Organization: Savannah River Lab., Aiken, SC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-76SR00001
• OSTI ID: 5083483
• Report Number(s): DPST-88-560; ON: DE88011673
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
TANKS
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
DECONTAMINATION
DETECTION
EVALUATION
EXHAUST GASES
GROUND DISPOSAL
LIQUID WASTES
MERCURY
MONITORING
CLEANING
CONTAINERS
ELEMENTS
FLUIDS
GASEOUS WASTES
GASES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
METALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
STORAGE
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE STORAGE
WASTES
052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
053000 - Nuclear Fuels- Environmental Aspects
500200 - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)