Technical plan for development of nondestructive examination technology. [For examining drums containing transuranic wastes]
In 1970, containers of transuranic waste were first placed in retrievable aboveground storage at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). Since that time, approximately 104,000 55-gallon drums, 7000 4 x 4 x 7 ft wooden boxes, and 500 steel bins have been stored. These containers are filled with TRU-contaminated material ranging from dry paper and rags to large steel machinery. The current method for managing the stored waste is to stack the containers in individual cells covered with a layer of plywood, plastic sheeting, and about two feet of soil. This practice will continue until 1986, when the Stored Waste Experimental Pilot Plant (SWEPP) becomes operational. The purpose of the SWEPP will be to certify the stored waste for shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The waste and the waste container will be certified to be in compliance with WIPP Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC). In order to certify the waste, the containers will be weighed, examined nondestructively by x-ray and (possibly) neutron radiography to identify acceptable waste forms, checked by ultrasonic or eddy-current techniques to see that the container is still sound, and assayed to determine the amount of fissile material in the container and its thermal power density. Waste shown by these tests to be in compliance with the WAC will be labeled and shipped to the WIPP. Waste which does not meet the WAC will be characterized, sorted by waste form, and sent to the Processing Experimental Pilot Plant (PREPP) at the INEL for processing; the waste will then be returned to the SWEPP for final certification and shipment.
- Research Organization:
- EG and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC07-76ID01570
- OSTI ID:
- 5257597
- Report Number(s):
- EGG-WM-5815; ON: DE82013808; TRN: 82-015662
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions of document are illegible
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
42 ENGINEERING
EDDY CURRENT TESTING
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
INDUSTRIAL RADIOGRAPHY
NEUTRON RADIOGRAPHY
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
ULTRASONIC WAVES
COMPLIANCE
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
REGULATIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC TESTING
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MATERIALS TESTING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SOUND WAVES
STORAGE
TESTING
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE STORAGE
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052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
420500 - Engineering- Materials Testing