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Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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Glass strategy: Hanford’s enhanced waste glass program
The mission of the Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection (ORP) is to complete the safe cleanup of waste resulting from decades of nuclear weapons development. One of the most technologically challenging responsibilities is the safe disposition of approximately 56 million gallons of radioactive waste historically stored in 177 tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
ORP has a clear incentive to reduce the overall mission duration and cost. One pathway is to develop and deploy innovative technical solutions that can advance baseline flow sheets toward higher efficiency operations while reducing identified risks without compromising safety. Vitrification is the baseline process that will convert both high-level and low-level radioactive waste at Hanford into a stable glass waste form for long-term storage and disposal.
Although vitrification is a mature technology, there are key areas where technology can further reduce operational risks, advance baseline processes to maximize waste throughput, and provide the underpinning to enhance operational flexibility; all steps in reducing mission duration and cost.
Toshiharu Sakurai, Toshiaki Yoneoka, Satoru Tanaka, Akihiro Suzuki, Takeo Muroga
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 39 | Number 2 | March 2001 | Pages 649-653
Fusion Materials | doi.org/10.13182/FST01-A11963312
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A purpose of the present study is to investigate the compatibility of SiC/SiC composite material and AlN ceramics with liquid metals. Corrosion behavior of materials could be affected by non-metallic impurities like nitrogen in liquid lithium. Another purpose of the present study is to control the concentration of nitrogen impurity by using getter materials and to study the effect of getter materials on compatibility with AlN. At 700K, all of the SiC/SiC specimens, except high purity specimen, were entirely broken down in liquid lithium. Even in this high purity specimen, many cracks were observed on the surface. On the other hand, in the case of SiC/SiC with Li17Pb83 at 773K, all of the specimens were not corroded. At 673K, impurity levels in AlN were changed in the case immersed in liquid lithium with getter materials. At 823K, impurities in AlN were attacked by lithium and the surface of it was locally peeled off. It was also observed that the getter material captured nitrogen.
