Potential radiological impacts of upper-bound operational accidents during proposed waste disposal alternatives for Hanford defense waste

Technical Report · Sat Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6008191· OSTI ID:6008191

Mishima, J; Sutter, S L; Hawley, K A; Jenkins, C E; Napier, B A

The Geologic Disposal Alternative, the In-Place Stabilization and Disposal Alternative, and the Reference Disposal Alternative are being evaluated for disposal of Hanford defense high-level, transuranic, and tank wastes. Environmental impacts associated with disposal of these wastes according to the alternatives listed above include potential doses to the downwind population from operation during the application of the handling and processing techniques comprising each disposal alternative. Scenarios for operational accident and abnormal operational events are postulated, on the basis of the currently available information, for the application of the techniques employed for each waste class for each disposal alternative. From these scenarios, an upper-bound airborne release of radioactive material was postulated for each waste class and disposal alternative. Potential downwind radiologic impacts were calculated from these upper-bound events. In all three alternatives, the single postulated event with the largest calculated radiologic impact for any waste class is an explosion of a mixture of ferri/ferro cyanide precipitates during the mechanical retrieval or microwave drying of the salt cake in single shell waste tanks. The anticipated downwind dose (70-year dose commitment) to the maximally exposed individual is 3 rem with a total population dose of 7000 man-rem. The same individual would receive 7 rem from natural background radiation during the same time period, and the same population would receive 3,000,000 man-rem. Radiological impacts to the public from all other postulated accidents would be less than that from this accident; furthermore, the radiological impacts resulting from this accident would be less than one-half that from the natural background radiation dose.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6008191
• Report Number(s): PNL-5356; ON: DE86007256
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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