Technical Information on the Carbonation of the EBR-II Reactor, Summary Report Part 2: Application to EBR-II Primary Sodium System and Related Systems

Technical Report · Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/911822· OSTI ID:911822

Sherman, Steven R; Knight, Collin J

Residual sodium is defined as sodium metal that remains behind in pipes, vessels, and tanks after the bulk sodium metal has been melted and drained from such components. The residual sodium has the same chemical properties as bulk sodium, and differs from bulk sodium only in the thickness of the sodium deposit. Typically, sodium is considered residual when the thickness of the deposit is less than 5-6 cm. This residual sodium must be removed or deactivated when a pipe, vessel, system, or entire reactor is permanently taken out of service, in order to make the component or system safer and/or to comply with decontamination and decomissioning regulations. As an alternative to the established residual sodium deactivation techniques (steam-and-nitrogen, wet vapor nitrogen, etc.), a technique involving the use of moisture and carbon dioxide has been developed. With this technique, sodium metal is converted into sodium bicarbonate by reacting it with humid carbon dioxide. Hydrogen is emitted as a by-product. This technique was first developed in the laboratory by exposing sodium samples to humidifed carbon dioxide under controlled conditions, and then demonstrated on a larger scale by treating residual sodium within the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) secondary cooling system, followed by the primary cooling system, respectively. The EBR-II facility is located at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in southeastern Idaho, USA. This report is Part 2 of a two-part report. This second report provides a supplement to the first report and describes the application of the humdidified carbon dioxide technique ("carbonation") to the EBR-II primary tank, primary cover gas systems, and the intermediate heat exchanger. Future treatment plans are also provided.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-99ID13727
• OSTI ID: 911822
• Report Number(s): INL/EXT-06-01189
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ACID CARBONATES
BREEDER REACTORS
CARBON DIOXIDE
carbonation
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
COOLING SYSTEMS
COVER GAS
DEACTIVATION
DECOMMISSIONING
DECONTAMINATION
EBR-II
HEAT EXCHANGERS
HYDROGEN
MOISTURE
NITROGEN
reactor
REGULATIONS
sodium
TANKS
THICKNESS