Fission product activities in aged Savannah River Plant waste solutions. [10 years old]

Conference · Sat Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1977

OSTI ID:6570093

Wiley, J. R.

Fission products with activities equal to or greater than 10 nCi/mL were identified in 10-year-old defense waste solutions stored at the Savannah River Plant. Measured activities of /sup 137/Cs, /sup 106/Ru, /sup 90/Sr, /sup 99/Tc, and lanthanide isotopes provided information about fission product distribution between alkaline supernatant solution and insoluble sludge, mainly Fe(OH)/sub 3/. /sup 137/Cs, the principal source of radioactivity (approximately 1 mCi/mL) in solution, was removed by cation exchange resin so that other isotopes could be measured without its interference. /sup 106/Ru was divided almost evenly between sludge and solution (approximately 10/sup -2/ mCi/mL). Ion exchange behavior of the soluble nitrosylruthenium complexes showed that 60% are divalent anions and the rest are probably uncharged. Conversion to anionic sulfide complexes by refluxing the diluted supernate with 0.01 M Na/sub 2/S allowed anion exchange resin to remove >99% of the Ru complexes from solution. /sup 90/Sr activity in supernate (approximately 500 nCi/mL) was 100 times lower than that predicted from the solubility of SrCO/sub 3/, the least soluble Sr salt in the waste. Adsorption of /sup 90/Sr onto sludge accounts for this difference. Ion exchange resins containing chelating groups remove /sup 90/Sr from the supernatant solution. Activity of /sup 99/Tc (approximately 50 nCi/mL) from soluble TcO/sub 4//sup -/ was about half of that expected from fission yields. The remaining Tc is probably insoluble; residues from HNO/sub 3/ dissolution of irradiated UO/sub 2/ fuels contain appreciable amounts of Tc. The combined activity of trivalent lanthanide isotopes, /sup 144/Ce-/sup 144/Pr, /sup 147/Pm, and /sup 151/Sm, (approximately 40 nCi/mL) was many orders of magnitude greater than expected from the solubility of their hydroxides. This enhanced solubility may be caused by the high salt concentration in the waste. 4 tables.

• Research Organization: Du Pont de Nemours (E.I.) and Co., Aiken, SC (USA). Savannah River Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-09-0001
• OSTI ID: 6570093
• Report Number(s): DP-MS-78-30; CONF-780902-13
• 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
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CESIUM 137
CESIUM ISOTOPES
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CLEANING
DECONTAMINATION
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FISSION PRODUCTS
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ION EXCHANGE
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
METALS
MIXTURES
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE EARTHS
RUTHENIUM 106
RUTHENIUM ISOTOPES
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
SLUDGES
SOLUTIONS
STRONTIUM 90
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
TECHNETIUM 99
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US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES