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Title: RESULTS FOR THE SECOND QUARTER 2011 TANK 50 WAC SLURRY SAMPLE: CHEMICAL AND RADIONUCLIDE CONTAMINANT RESULTS

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1024398· OSTI ID:1024398

The Saltstone Facility is designed and permitted to immobilize and dispose of low-level radioactive and hazardous liquid waste (salt solution) remaining from the processing of radioactive material at the Savannah River Site. Low-level waste (LLW) streams from the Effluent Treatment Project (ETP), H-Canyon, the DDA (Deliquification, Dissolution, and Adjustment) process, and the decontaminated salt solution product from the Actinide Removal Process/Modular Caustic Side Solvent Extraction (CSSX) Unit (ARP/MCU) process are stored in Tank 50 until the LLW can be transferred to the Saltstone Facility for treatment and disposal. The LLW must meet the specified waste acceptance criteria (WAC) before it is processed into saltstone. The specific chemical and radionuclide contaminants and their respective WAC limits are listed in the current Saltstone WAC. Waste Solidification Engineering (WSE) requested that Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) perform quarterly analysis on saltstone samples. The concentrations of chemical and radionuclide contaminants are measured to ensure the saltstone produced during each quarter is in compliance with the current WAC. This report documents the concentrations of chemical and radionuclide contaminants for the 2011 Second Quarter samples collected from Tank 50 on April 4, 2011 and discusses those results in further detail than the previously issued results report. The following conclusions are drawn from the analytical results provided in this report: (1) The concentrations of the reported chemical and radioactive contaminants were less than their respective WAC targets or limits unless noted in this section. (2) The reported detection limit for {sup 59}Ni is above the requested limit from Reference 2 but below the established limit in Reference 3. (3) The reported detection limit for {sup 94}Nb is above the requested limit from Reference 2; however, it is below the established limits in Reference 3. (4) The reported concentration of {sup 242m}Am is above the target in Listed in Attachment 8.4 of the Saltstone WAC. (5) {sup 247}Cm and {sup 249}Cf are above the requested limits from Reference 2. However, they are below the limits established in Reference 3. (6) The reported detection limit for Norpar 13{sup 5} is greater than the limit from Table 4 and Attachment 8.2 of the WAC. (7) The reported detection limit for Isopar L is greater than the limit from Table 3 of the WAC. (8) Isopar L and Norpar 13 have limited solubility in aqueous solutions making it difficult to obtain consistent and reliable sub-samples. The values reported in this memo are the concentrations in the sub-sample as detected by the instrument; however, the results may not accurately represent the concentrations of the analytes in Tank 50.

Research Organization:
Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC09-08SR22470
OSTI ID:
1024398
Report Number(s):
SRNL-STI-2011-00443; TRN: US1104781
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English