Rheological evaluation of simulated neutralized current acid waste - transuranics

Technical Report · Mon Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5300024· OSTI ID:5300024

Fow, C L; McCarthy, D; Thornton, G T; Scott, P A; Bray, L A

At the Hanford Plutonium and Uranium Extraction Plant (PUREX), in Richland, Washington, plutonium and uranium products are recovered from irradiated fuel by a solvent extraction process. A byproduct of this process is an aqueous waste stream that contains fission products. This waste stream, called current acid waste (CAW), is chemically neutralized and stored in double shell tanks (DSTs) on the Hanford Site. This neutralized current acid waste (NCAW) will be transported by pipe to B-Plant, a processing plant located nearby. In B-Plant, the transuranic (TRU) elements in NCAW are separated from the non-TRU elements. The majority of the TRU elements in NCAW are in the solids. Therefore, the primary processing operation is to separate the NCAW solids (NCAW-TRU) from the NCAW liquid. These two waste streams will be pumped to suitable holding tanks before being further processed for permanent disposal. To ensure that the retrieval and transportation of NCAW and NCAW-TRU are successful, researchers at Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) evaluated the rheological and transport properties of the slurries. This evaluation had two phases. First, researchers conducted laboratory rheological evaluations of simulated NCAW and NCAW-TRU. The results of these evaluations were then correlated with classical rheological models and scaled up to predict the performance that is likely to occur in the full-scale system. This scale-up procedure has already been successfully used to predict the critical transport properties of a slurry (Neutralized Cladding Removal Waste) with rheological properties similar to those displayed by NCAW and NCAW-TRU.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 5300024
• Report Number(s): PNL-5902; ON: DE87000212
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052001* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Processing
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
FISSION PRODUCTS
ISOTOPES
LIQUID WASTES
MATERIALS
MIXTURES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PUREX PROCESS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
REPROCESSING
RHEOLOGY
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SLURRIES
SOLID WASTES
SUSPENSIONS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
VISCOSITY
WASTES