Control of I-131 releases to atmosphere

Technical Report · Mon Feb 06 04:00:00 EST 1961

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7080269· OSTI ID:7080269

Warren, J. H.

Silver reactors have been used in the Redox plant as the primary means of radio-iodine control since start up in 1952. Off-gases from the jacket removal or uranium dissolution reactions pass from the dissolver, through a condenser, to the reactor heater, where these gases are heated electrically (jacket removal gases to 375 F, uranium dissolution gases to 395 F). The radio-iodine present in the heated gases is largely removed by reaction with the coating (originally solid silver nitrate) on the surface of the Berl saddles in the packed section of the reactor. In the original installation, after passage through the silver reactor and a glass fiber filter, the dissolver off-gases were then dispersed to the atmosphere via the ventilation stack. However, since these off-gases from the dissolution of uranium contained oxides of nitrogen (N{sub 2}O{sub 4}, NO{sub 2}, NO) equivalent to 1200--1500 pounds of nitric acid per ton of uranium dissolved, and also occasionally contained significant quantities of radio-iodine for one reason or another, the 293-S nitric acid recovery and iodine back-up facility was built and put in service late in 1957. The 293-S Building contains a 12-tray nitric acid absorber and a caustic scrubber, together with supplementary equipment. Valving was provided so that the dissolver off-gases could (1) by-pass the 293-S Building, or (2) pass through both the acid absorber and the caustic scrubber on their way to the ventilation stack. The caustic scrubber was provided to remove any radio-iodine escaping through the silver reactors. 34 refs., 8 figs., 4 tabs.

• Research Organization: General Electric Co., Richland, WA (USA). Hanford Atomic Products Operation
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/DP
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 7080269
• Report Number(s): HW-68392; ON: DE90009110
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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ABSORPTION
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ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
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RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS
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RESEARCH PROGRAMS
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SCRUBBERS
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