Decommissioning of Experimental Breeder Reactor - II Complex, Post Sodium Draining

Conference · Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2005

OSTI ID:911584

Michelbacher, J A ^[1]; Henslee, S Paul; Knight, Collin J; sherman, Steven R

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1. Bart

The Experimental Breeder Reactor - II (EBR-II) was shutdown in September 1994 as mandated by the United States Department of Energy. This sodium-cooled reactor had been in service since 1964. The bulk sodium was drained from the primary and secondary systems and processed. Residual sodium remaining in the systems after draining was converted into sodium bicarbonate using humid carbon dioxide. This technique was tested at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois under controlled conditions, then demonstrated on a larger scale by treating residual sodium within the EBR-II secondary cooling system, followed by the primary tank. This process, terminated in 2002, was used to place a layer of sodium bicarbonate over all exposed surfaces of sodium. Treatment of the remaining EBR-II sodium is governed by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality issued a RCRA Operating Permit in 2002, mandating that all hazardous materials be removed from EBR-II within a 10 year period, with the ability to extend the permit and treatment period for another 10 years. A preliminary plan has been formulated to remove the remaining sodium and NaK from the primary and secondary systems using moist carbon dioxide, steam and nitrogen, and a water flush. The moist carbon dioxide treatment was resumed in May 2004. As of August 2005, approximately 60% of the residual sodium within the EBR-II primary tank had been treated. This process will continue through the end of 2005, when it is forecast that the process will become increasingly ineffective. At that time, subsequent treatment processes will be planned and initiated. It should be noted that the processes and anticipated costs associated with these processes are preliminary. Detailed engineering has not been performed, and approval for these methods has not been obtained from the regulator or the sponsors.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE - NE
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-99ID13727
• OSTI ID: 911584
• Report Number(s): INL/CON-05-00647
• Conference Information: IAEA Technical Meeting on "The Decommissioning of Fast Reactors after Sodium Draining",Centre d'Etudes de Cadarache, France,09/26/2005,09/30/2005
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
ACID CARBONATES
BREEDER REACTORS
CARBON DIOXIDE
COOLING SYSTEMS
DECOMMISSIONING
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FAST REACTORS
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
IAEA
NITROGEN
POTASSIUM ALLOYS
RESOURCE CONSERVATION
SHUTDOWN
SODIUM
SODIUM ALLOYS
SODIUM COOLED REACTORS
STEAM
TANKS
WATER