TMI-2 (Three Mile Island Unit 2) reactor building basement concrete activity distribution

Conference · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1988 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA)

OSTI ID:5618913

Babel, P J; Lancaster, R E; Distenfeld, C H

As a result of the March 1979 accident, the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor building basement wall and floors were submerged in up to 2.6 m (8.5 ft) of water at an activity concentration of 4.8 BBq{center dot}l{sup {minus}1} (0.13 mCi{center dot}ml{sup {minus}1}) of {sup 137}Cs. This radioactivity penetrated the coated and uncoated concrete surfaces to various depths over a 2.5-yr period. After all the water had been removed, the general area exposure rates in the reactor building basement ranged from 0.14 to >43 {mu}Ci{center dot}kg{sup {minus}1}{center dot}s{sup {minus}1} (2 to 600 R/h). For decontamination and licensing purposes, it is necessary to determine the type, quantity, location, and penetration of radioactive materials in the reactor building basement concrete. The initial efforts to determine the contamination level in the reactor building basement was by thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) attached to ropes at specific distances apart. The quantity of radioactive material in the concrete was initially estimated by using radiation shielding computer codes. To obtain more accurate information, the robot was used to obtain concrete core bore samples from the floors and walls of the various types of concrete at different elevations. Concrete core bore samples were sent to Idaho National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to determine the strontium content of the concrete and possibility of leaching to remove activity from the concrete for decontamination purposes. The results of the leach testing showed that the concrete can be passively leached to remove the radioactive material.

• OSTI ID: 5618913
• Report Number(s): CONF-881011-; CODEN: TANSA; TRN: 89-027120
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA), Vol. 57; Conference: Joint meeting of the European Nuclear Society and the American Nuclear Society, Washington, DC (USA), 30 Oct - 4 Nov 1988; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
BASEMENTS
CONCRETES
ACTIVITY LEVELS
CONTAINMENT BUILDINGS
THREE MILE ISLAND-2 REACTOR
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
BOREHOLES
COMPUTER CODES
DECONTAMINATION
FLOORS
GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY
IDAHO NATIONAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY
LEACHING
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICAL STRUCTURES
ORNL
RADIATION DOSES
ROBOTS
SAMPLING
STRONTIUM
SURFACE COATING
SURFACE CONTAMINATION
THERMOLUMINESCENT DOSEMETERS
WALLS
ACCIDENTS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
BUILDING MATERIALS
BUILDINGS
CAVITIES
CLEANING
CONTAINMENT
CONTAMINATION
DEPOSITION
DISSOLUTION
DOSEMETERS
DOSES
ELEMENTS
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
LUMINESCENT DOSEMETERS
MATERIALS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
METALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
POWER REACTORS
PWR TYPE REACTORS
REACTORS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SPECTROSCOPY
THERMAL REACTORS
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
220900* - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Reactor Safety
210200 - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled