Control of technetium at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant

Technical Report · Mon Nov 23 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:5827481

Saraceno, A J

Technetium-99 entered the gaseous diffusion complex as a volatile impurity in recycled uranium that was fed to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Subsequently, it entered the Oak Ridge and Portsmouth cascades as an impurity in Paducah product feed. Most of the technetium was adsorbed on cascade equipment in increasingly high concentrations as it moved up the cascade. Since the low energy beta radiation produced by technetium cannot penetrate cascade equipment, it presents no significant hazard to workers as long as it remains inside of equipment. However, when equipment that contains high concentrations of technetium is opened for maintenance or change-out, precautions are taken to ensure worker safety. Traps containing activated alumina are used at the plant vent streams to limit radioactive emissions as far as possible. Annual vent stream emissions have been well below DOE limits. To allow continued compliance, other potential trapping agents have been tested. Several that limit emissions more effectively than activated alumina have been found. Other traps containing magnesium fluoride are used in the upper cascade to reduce the technetium concentration. Waste solutions from decontamination can also contain technetium. These solutions must either be stored for controlled discharge or treated to remove the technetium. To allow the latter, an ion exchange facility is being installed for operation by the end of FY-1982. Liquid discharges at Portsmouth have usually been less than 5% of the DOE imposed limits.

• Research Organization: Goodyear Atomic Corp., Piketon, OH (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76OR00001
• OSTI ID: 5827481
• Report Number(s): GAT-2010; ON: DE82005116
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

050501 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Uranium Enrichment-- Gaseous Diffusion-- (-1989)
052000* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Management
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ENCAPSULATION
FLUORIDES
FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANTS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPE SEPARATION PLANTS
ISOTOPES
MAGNESIUM COMPOUNDS
MAGNESIUM FLUORIDES
MANAGEMENT
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
PORTSMOUTH GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOISOTOPES
REMOVAL
TECHNETIUM 99
TECHNETIUM ISOTOPES
TRAPS
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES