Control of radio-iodine at the German reprocessing plant WAK during operation and after shutdown
- Wiederaufarbeitungsanlage Karlsruhe (Germany); and others
During 20 years of operation 207 metric tons of oxide fuel from nuclear power reactors with 19 kg of iodine-129 had been reprocessed in the WAK plant near Karlsruhe. In January 1991 the WAK Plant was shut down. During operation iodine releases of the plant as well as the iodine distribution over the liquid and gaseous process streams had been determined. Most of the iodine is evolved into the dissolver off-gas in volatile form. The remainder is dispersed over many aqueous, organic and especially gaseous process and waste streams. After shut down of the plant in January 1991, iodine measurements in the off-gas streams have been continued up to now. Whereas the iodine-129 concentration in the dissolver off-gas dropped during six months after shutdown by three orders of magnitude, the iodine concentrations in the vessel ventilation system of the PUREX process and the cell vent system decreased only by a factor of 10 during the same period. Iodine-129 releases of the liquid high active waste storage tanks did not decrease distinctly. The removal efficiencies of the silver impregnated iodine filters in the different off-gas streams of the WAK plant depend on the iodine concentration in the off-gas. The reason of the observed dependence of the DF on the iodine-129 concentration might be due to the presence of organic iodine compounds which are difficult to remove. 13 refs., 3 figs.
- Research Organization:
- Harvard Univ., Boston, MA (United States). Harvard Air Cleaning Lab.; USDOE Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety, and Health, Washington, DC (United States). Office of Environmental Guidance; Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States). Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research; International Society of Nuclear Air Treatment Technologies, Inc., Batavia, OH (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 567223
- Report Number(s):
- NUREG/CP--0153; CONF-960715--; ON: TI97008959
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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