Polymer impregnated tritiated concrete. Final report

Technical Report · Thu Sep 27 04:00:00 EDT 1979

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5767722· OSTI ID:5767722

Wieneke, R E; Dauby, J J; Abell, G C; Tadlock, W E; Lamberger, P H; Gibbs, G E

Mound Facility investigated the polymer-impregnated tritiated-concrete process (PITC) for aqueous tritiated waste as developed by Brookhaven National Laboratory. This technique involves the solidification of tritiated aqueous waste in concrete. The solidified block is then soaked in styrene monomer which permeates the concrete and, when polymerized, effectively microencapsulates the tritium bearing concrete, thus providing added protection in case of a broken package. Small scale samples (in 500-ml polyethylene bottles) were fabricated and tested in order to determine their characteristics in relation to differences in tritium release from the package due to variation of process parameters, radiation effects on the polystyrene, and gas generation. It was determined that varying the factors that increase the polymerization rate of the styrene (higher temperature or more catalyst) will increase the tritium permeation rate because the porosity of the polystyrene layer has been increased. Compressive strength tests, conducted after 75 weeks, showed that the tritiated blocks were consistently weaker than their nonradioactive counterparts, and that the gas release rate from PITC samples was nearly the same as that from nonpolymer impregnated samples. To date, two full-scale, nonradioactive packages have been successfully produced by the following procedure: inject 27 liters of water into the center of the waste package that contains 112 kg of Portland Type III cement inside a 30-gal, open-head steel drum and a 27-gal polyethylene drum liner; cure the cement at ambient temperature for 3 to 5 days, then heat the package to 45/sup 0/C and soak the cement with 24 kg of styrene monomer containing 3/4 wt % catalyst; increase the heat until 70/sup 0/C is obtaind at the cement-liner interface. In approximately 7 hr, polymerization will occur.

• Research Organization: Mound Facility, Miamisburg, OH (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-04-0053
• OSTI ID: 5767722
• Report Number(s): MLM-2644
• 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
AROMATICS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BUILDING MATERIALS
CONCRETES
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOISOTOPES
SOLIDIFICATION
STYRENE
TRITIUM
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES