Hanford Site waste tank stability assessment: Characterization of headspace vapors by Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance method

Conference · Sat Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:5636276

Rebagay, T V; Dodd, D A

The Hanford Site (Figure 1) near Richland, Washington, operated by the US Department of Energy, Richland Field Office, produced nuclear materials for the nation's defense programs for more than 40 yr. The highly radioactive liquid wastes generated by the chemical processing of the irradiated nuclear fuels are stored temporarily in single- and double-shell steel tanks at the Hanford Site. One of the most important problems arising from the underground storage of waste materials that contain fission products is the high temperature caused by poor dissipation of heat through the surrounding soil. Under abnormal conditions exothermic reactions among the components of the wastes might occur, resulting in runaway organics-nitrate reactions. Laboratory experiments have demonstrated that mixtures of nitrate/nitrites with ferrocyanides decompose spontaneously and rapidly at elevated temperatures following these reactions: Ferrocyanide with nitrate Na{sub 2}NiFe(CN){sub 6} + 6NaNO{sub 3} = 6N{sub 2} + 2CO{sub 2} + 4Na{sub 2}CO{sub 3} + FeO + NiO Ferrocyanide with nitrite Na{sub 2}NiFe(CN){sub 6} + 1ONaNO{sub 2} = 8N{sub 2} + 6Na{sub 2}CO{sub 3} + FeO + NiO. Recently, tank safety issues at the Hanford Site have been raised, including flammable gases, potentially explosive ferrocyanide-nitrate mixtures, and potential runaway organics-nitrate reactions. Gases such as H{sub 2}, N{sub 2}O, N{sub 2}, and water vapor are produced by the breakdown of the radioactive waste by thermolysis, radiolysis, or both. Hydrogen (H{sub 2}) is a safety concern because it can be explosive above certain concentrations. These tank safety concerns have created a need for a reliable system to monitor tank waste reactivity.

• Research Organization: Westinghouse Hanford Co., Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-87RL10930
• OSTI ID: 5636276
• Report Number(s): WHC-SA-1288; CONF-920302--4; ON: DE92008631
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052002* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Disposal & Storage
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400800 -- Combustion
Pyrolysis
& High-Temperature Chemistry
CHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMBUSTION PROPERTIES
COMPLEXES
CONTAINERS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY TRANSFER
EQUIPMENT
FERROCYANIDES
FLAMMABILITY
FLOW RATE
FLUIDS
GASES
HANFORD RESERVATION
HEAT TRANSFER
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
HYDROGEN
INFRARED SPECTROMETERS
IRON COMPLEXES
KINETICS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NITRITES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NONMETALS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIATION PROTECTION
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
REACTION KINETICS
RISK ASSESSMENT
SAFETY
SAMPLING
SPECTROMETERS
SPECTROSCOPY
STORAGE
STORAGE FACILITIES
TANKS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPLEXES
UNDERGROUND STORAGE
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
VAPORS
WASTE FORMS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE STORAGE
WASTES