DISPOSAL OF REACTOR DEIONIZER VESSELS HIGHLY CONTAMINATED WITH 14 CARBON IN THE INTERMEDIATE LEVEL VAULT FACILITY AT SRS
Abstract
At the Savannah River Site (SRS), nuclear production reactors used deionizers to control the chemistry of the reactor moderator during their operation to produce nuclear materials primarily for the weapons program. These deionizers were removed from the reactors and stored as a legacy waste with no path to disposal due to the relatively high {sup 14}C contamination (i.e., on the order of 20 curies per deionizer for 48-50 deionizers) and the low disposal limit of 4.2 Ci previously established for the Intermediate Level Vault (ILV). The ILV is considered most appropriate facility within which to dispose these items due to the method of solidifying waste items with cementitious material inside concrete vaults. In previous analyses the {sup 14}C ILV disposal limit was established at 4.2 Ci resulting from the use of a very conservative method to analyze the dose received from atmospheric releases of gaseous {sup 14}C. This investigation implemented a more rigorous evaluation of the physical and chemical processes influencing the release and migration of gaseous {sup 14}C (as CO{sub 2}) to obtain a more realistic estimate of atmospheric dose and to determine new ILV disposal limits.
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- SRS
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 908025
- Report Number(s):
- WSRC-STI-2007-00271
TRN: US0703384
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC09-96SR18500
- Resource Type:
- Conference
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: American Nuclear Society - Decommissioning, Decontamination and Revtilization Technology Expo.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS; CARBON; CHEMISTRY; CONCRETES; CONTAMINATION; DECOMMISSIONING; DECONTAMINATION; EVALUATION; MODERATORS; PRODUCTION REACTORS; SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT; WASTES; WEAPONS
Citation Formats
Hiergesell, R, and Daniel Kaplan, D. DISPOSAL OF REACTOR DEIONIZER VESSELS HIGHLY CONTAMINATED WITH 14 CARBON IN THE INTERMEDIATE LEVEL VAULT FACILITY AT SRS. United States: N. p., 2007.
Web.
Hiergesell, R, & Daniel Kaplan, D. DISPOSAL OF REACTOR DEIONIZER VESSELS HIGHLY CONTAMINATED WITH 14 CARBON IN THE INTERMEDIATE LEVEL VAULT FACILITY AT SRS. United States.
Hiergesell, R, and Daniel Kaplan, D. Mon .
"DISPOSAL OF REACTOR DEIONIZER VESSELS HIGHLY CONTAMINATED WITH 14 CARBON IN THE INTERMEDIATE LEVEL VAULT FACILITY AT SRS". United States.
doi:. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/908025.
@article{osti_908025,
title = {DISPOSAL OF REACTOR DEIONIZER VESSELS HIGHLY CONTAMINATED WITH 14 CARBON IN THE INTERMEDIATE LEVEL VAULT FACILITY AT SRS},
author = {Hiergesell, R and Daniel Kaplan, D},
abstractNote = {At the Savannah River Site (SRS), nuclear production reactors used deionizers to control the chemistry of the reactor moderator during their operation to produce nuclear materials primarily for the weapons program. These deionizers were removed from the reactors and stored as a legacy waste with no path to disposal due to the relatively high {sup 14}C contamination (i.e., on the order of 20 curies per deionizer for 48-50 deionizers) and the low disposal limit of 4.2 Ci previously established for the Intermediate Level Vault (ILV). The ILV is considered most appropriate facility within which to dispose these items due to the method of solidifying waste items with cementitious material inside concrete vaults. In previous analyses the {sup 14}C ILV disposal limit was established at 4.2 Ci resulting from the use of a very conservative method to analyze the dose received from atmospheric releases of gaseous {sup 14}C. This investigation implemented a more rigorous evaluation of the physical and chemical processes influencing the release and migration of gaseous {sup 14}C (as CO{sub 2}) to obtain a more realistic estimate of atmospheric dose and to determine new ILV disposal limits.},
doi = {},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon May 21 00:00:00 EDT 2007},
month = {Mon May 21 00:00:00 EDT 2007}
}
-
At the Savannah River Site (SRS), nuclear production reactors used de-ionizers to control the chemistry of the reactor moderator during their operation to produce nuclear materials primarily for the weapons program. These de-ionizers were removed from the reactors and stored as a legacy waste with no path to disposal due to the relatively high {sup 14}C contamination (i.e., on the order of 20 curies per de-ionizer for 48-50 de-ionizers) and the low disposal limit of 4.2 Ci previously established for the Intermediate Level Vault (ILV). The ILV is considered most appropriate facility within which to dispose these items due tomore »
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Removal of Legacy Low-Level Waste Reactor Moderator De-ionizer Resins Highly Contaminated with Carbon-14 from the 'Waste with no Path to Disposal List' Through Innovative Technical Analysis and Performance Assessment Techniques
At the Savannah River Site (SRS), nuclear production reactors used de-ionizers to control the chemistry of the reactor moderator during their operation to produce nuclear materials primarily for the weapons program. These de-ionizers were removed from the reactors and stored as a legacy waste and due to the relatively high carbon-14 (C-14) contamination (i.e., on the order of 740 giga becquerel (GBq) (20 curies) per de-ionizer) were considered a legacy 'waste with no path to disposal'. Considerable progress has been made in consideration of a disposal path for the legacy reactor de-ionizers. Presently, 48 - 50 de-ionizers being stored atmore » -
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Carbon-14 removal for disposal of reactor deionizer resins
Disposal of depleted ion exchange resins from the primary system of the Savannah River Site (SRS) reactors is complicated by the presence of Carbon-14. Because Carbon-14 has a long half-life (5,730 years) and high mobility in soils, burial of the resins is no longer a viable option. Consequently some 35 spent reactor deionizers have accumulated that are to be stored aboveground in H-Area for an indefinite period. Spent deionizers containing Carbon-14 will continue to accumulate with operation of the present production reactors and would also accumulate from the proposed heavy water new production reactor. Removal of the Carbon-14 from themore » -
Special Analysis: Evaluation of the Proposed Disposal of the Initial TEF-TPBAR Waste Container within the E-Area Low-Level Waste Facility Intermediate Level Vault
This Special Analysis (SA) evaluated a unique waste disposal item, the initial Tritium Extraction Facility (TEF) waste container, to determine its suitability for disposal within the intermediate Level Vault (ILV). This waste container will be used to dispose 900 extracted Tritium Producing Burnable Absorber Rods (TPBARs) and the Lead Test Assembly (LTA) container, which will hold 32 unextracted TPBARs. Suitability was determined by evaluating the contribution of the expected radionuclide inventory of the initial TEF waste container versus the disposal limits derived for it. The conclusion of this SA is that the TEF disposal container described in this investigation willmore »