Summary and recommendations of the NRC/INEL Activated Carbon Testing Program

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:5469098

Scarpellino, C D; Sill, C W

The Committee on Nuclear Air and Gas Treatment (CONAGT) of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) sponsored an interlaboratory testing program, round-robin, of nuclear-grade activated carbon. The results of this round-robin revealed gross differences in penetration of radio-labeled methyl iodide as measured by the various laboratories when using Method A of the ASTM D-3803-79 Standard. These differences prompted the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to establish the NRC/INEL Activated Carbon Testing Program to determine the causes of these discrepancies and to provide recommendations that could lead to an accurate and reliable testing procedure that would ensure an adequate method for assessing the capability of activated carbon to remove radioiodine from gas streams within commercial nuclear power plants. The NRC/INEL Activated Carbon Testing Program has conducted formal and informal interlaboratory comparisons to identify problems with the test method and its application and to assess the effectiveness of changes to procedures and equipment voluntarily implemented by commercial laboratories to mitigate the disparity of test results. The results of the first formal NRC/INEL Interlaboratory Comparison (IC) essentially verified the CONAGT round-robin results despite the use of a detailed test protocol. This data indicated that many of the participating laboratories probably had been operating outside the ASTM specifications for relative humidity (RH) and flow. In addition, this process provided information which was used to modify the testing protocol employed for the second NRC/INEL Interlaboratory Comparison (IC-2) to make it more rugged and reliable. These changes to the protocol together with the results of INEL sensitivity testing are the basis for the recommendations presented.

• Research Organization: EG and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-76ID01570
• OSTI ID: 5469098
• Report Number(s): EGG-M-04786; CONF-860820-6; ON: TI86014898
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220200* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Components & Accessories
ACTIVATED CARBON
ADSORBENTS
CALCULATION METHODS
CALIBRATION
CARBON
ELEMENTS
FILTERS
FLUID FLOW
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
IODIDES
IODINE COMPOUNDS
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS TESTING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NONMETALS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
POWER PLANTS
RADIOISOTOPES
RECOMMENDATIONS
REMOVAL
SENSITIVITY
TESTING
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
US NRC
US ORGANIZATIONS