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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Cost analysis for recycling of contaminated stainless steel for use as HLW canisters

Conference ·
OSTI ID:598179
;  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
  2. Jupiter Corp., Wheaton, MD (United States)
  3. EnviroTech Associates, Rockville, MD (United States)
The US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Waste Management evaluated the relative costs of utilizing radioactively contaminated stainless steel (RCSS) from out-of-service heat exchangers to fabricate high-level waste (HLW) canisters for the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS). DOE-SRS, Oak Ridge Operations (ORO), the Office of Science and Technology, and the Office of Environmental Restoration participated in and/or assisted the cost analysis effort. The analysis focused on the relative costs to the overall EM Program of two options which have been identified as plausible under this scenario: (1) disposal of the heat exchangers as low-level waste (LLW) in the E-Area vaults at Savannah River and purchase of non-RCSS canisters for DWPF; and (2) processing the heat exchangers into HLW canisters. Two alternatives within Option 2 were considered, one using the current HLW canister design and one using a new, two-plate design. The results of this cost analysis indicate that it is reasonable to expect that the total cost to DOE of utilizing SS heat exchangers from Savannah River to fabricate HLW canisters for DWPF may be less than or equal to the total cost of procuring HLW canisters fabricated from Virgin SS and disposing of the heat exchangers as LLW. On this basis, it would appear reasonable for DOE to pursue obtaining vendor bids for supplying RCSS HLW canisters in order to determine the best-value approach for DOE.
OSTI ID:
598179
Report Number(s):
CONF-970830--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English