Overview of Technologies and Innovations Being Developed for Fluor Hanford Projects at the Hanford Site

Conference · Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 2006

OSTI ID:947945

Scott, Paul A; Fruchter, Jonathan S; Szecsody, Jim E; Schmidt, Andrew J; Mellinger, George B; Scheele, Randall D; Shimskey, Rick W; Jones, Susan A; Hensley, Walter K; Lepel, Elwood A; Oostrom, Mart; Petersen, Scott W; Cooper, Thurman D; Minette, Michael J; Ewalt, John R; Wilkinson, Robert E

Fluor Hanford is responsible for cleanup of legacy wastes, old production facilities, and environmental contamination that remain at the Hanford site. New technologies and technical information are being introduced to improve cost efficiency and assure safety. This paper presents recent advances in four of Fluor's projects. Supporting the Plutonium Finishing Plan Closure Project, laboratory evaluations and thermal analyses were conducted to quantify the potential for self-heating reactions that can develop in materials used to remove plutonium from contaminated equipment. Four commercial products were tested, and safe limits for packaging these wastes have been developed. The Groundwater Remediation Project is testing two technologies that show promise of preventing groundwater contaminants from reaching the Columbia River by innovative in situ methods. Laboratory tests are showing that the mineral apatite can sequester Sr-90, and current work to control in situ placement of the barrier is supporting a field deployment in late FY 06. In another location, a new approach using zero valent iron is being tested to "mend" areas breached in the in situ redox manipulation barrier, which was installed to convert soluble chromium +6 to the less mobile +3 state. The Waste Stabilization and Dispostion Project has successfully operated a process to grout sludge from spent fuel storage basins which controls the dose below contact handled limits. An in-line sensor and a nomogram that correlates dose to curies provide the operators with a simple and effective method to assure all waste drums meet WIPP acceptance specifications. The K Basins Closure Projecdt will be transferring sludge containing fuel fragments using hoses and several pump booster stations. Selection of equipment fabrication materials required testing with a simulant, which in turn required laboratory evaluations of irradiated fuel hardness so that an appropriate non-radioactive material could be selected. A tungsten alloy was selected and used for testing system components.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 947945
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-47610; TRN: US0901527
• Resource Relation: Conference: 2006 Waste Management Symposium: Global Accomplishments in Environmental and Radioactive Waste Management:Education and Opportunity for the Next Generation of Waste Management Professionals
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
APATITES
CHROMIUM
COLUMBIA RIVER
GROUTING
NOMOGRAMS
PHOSPHORS
PLUTONIUM
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SPENT FUEL STORAGE
SPENT FUELS
TESTING
TUNGSTEN ALLOYS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WIPP