Tritium waste control, October--December 1977. [Tritiated liquid waste decontamination; fixation of aqueous tritiated waste in polymer-impregnated concrete]
The combined electrolysis-catalytic-exchange pilot scale system was operated on a 5 hr/day basis for 32 days without a major equipment failure. Modifications were made to the Nd:YAG laser that increased the output power by five. The increased beam quality and power of the laser allowed optical parametric oscillator (OPO) operation over a 2.9 to 4.14 ..mu..m tuning range. Background exchange was eliminated in the photolysis system and photolytic experiments were commenced. Photo dissociation experiments with H/sub 2/O/D/sub 2/ revealed that the xenon flashlamp should have sufficient spectral emittance in the less than or equal to 194 nm region to produce detectable amounts of photodissociation in vibrationally excited HDO. The short 10 cm long x 0.6 cm i.d. column was replaced by a 50-cm-long column of the same diameter. A thermometer was placed at the midpoint of the column to assist in the analysis of column operation. A new liquid level probe was installed. Tests of stage height were repeated with the longer column. Triplicate samples of cement, cement-plaster (1:1 ratio by weight), and cement-plaster (1:1 ratio by volume) were injected with 386 Ci of tritium, cured for five days, and then impregnated with catalyzed styrene monomer. After polymerization, the samples were put into a test program to measure the tritium release. When the polystyrene bottle was removed the tritium release increased fiftyfold. This corresponds to a fractional release of 2.8 x 10/sup -1/ after 31 weeks. The tritium release study of actual burial packages is continuing. Two additional drums have just been added to the study. These contain octane waste. The fractional release is 1 x 10/sup -5/ on a 5-yr old package, only 4.0 x 10/sup -7/ on a 4-yr old package, and 4.7 x 10/sup -9/ on the 2-yr old package.
- Research Organization:
- Mound Facility, Miamisburg, Ohio (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- EY-76-C-04-0053
- OSTI ID:
- 5101482
- Report Number(s):
- MLM-2502; TRN: 78-009551
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Tritium waste control: January--March 1978
Tritium waste control: July--September 1978. [Catalytic exchange detritiation; fixation of aqueous tritiated waste in polymer-impregnated concrete; gas generation by self-radiolysis of polymer-impregnated concrete]
Related Subjects
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
LIQUID WASTES
TRITIUM
CONCRETES
DISTILLATION
ELECTROLYSIS
LEACHING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SOLIDIFICATION
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BUILDING MATERIALS
DISSOLUTION
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
LYSIS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PROCESSING
RADIOISOTOPES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
052001* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Processing