Remote handling of canisters containing nuclear waste in glass at the Savannah River Plant
The Defense Waste Processing Facility is being constructed at the Savannah River Plant at a cost of $870 million to immobilize the defense high-level radioactive waste. This radioactive waste is being added to borosilicate glass for later disposal in a federal repository. The borosilicate glass is poured into stainless steel canisters for storage. These canisters must be handled remotely because of their high radioactivity, up to 5000 R/h. After the glass has been poured into the canister which will be temporarily sealed, it is transferred to a decontamination cell and decontaminated. The canister is then transferred to the weld cell where a permanent cap is welded into place. The canisters must then be transported from the processing building to a storage vault on the plant until the federal repository is available. A shielded canister transporter (SCT) has been designed and constructed for this purpose. The design of the SCT vehicle allows the safe transport of a highly radioactive canister containing borosilicate glass weighing 2300 kg with a radiation level up to 5000 R/h from one building to another. The design provides shielding for the operator in the cab of the vehicle to be below 0.5 rem/h. The SCT may also be used to load the final shipping cask when the federal repository is ready to receive the canisters.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Plant, Aiken, SC
- OSTI ID:
- 6897202
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-861102-
- Journal Information:
- Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States), Journal Name: Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States) Vol. 53; ISSN TANSA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
42 ENGINEERING
420203 -- Engineering-- Handling Equipment & Procedures
BOROSILICATE GLASS
CLEANING
CONTAINERS
DECONTAMINATION
EQUIPMENT
GLASS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PERFORMANCE
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
REMOTE HANDLING EQUIPMENT
REMOTE VIEWING EQUIPMENT
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
SHIELDING
US AEC
US DOD
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
VEHICLES
VITRIFICATION
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES