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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.
K. Tsujimoto, N. Kohno, N. Shinohara, T. Sakurai, Y. Nakahara, T. Mukaiyama, S. Raman
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 144 | Number 2 | June 2003 | Pages 129-141
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE03-A2348
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To evaluate neutron cross-section data of minor actinides (MAs), separated actinide samples and dosimetry samples were irradiated at the Dounreay Prototype Fast Reactor for 492 effective full-power days. Irradiated samples were analyzed both at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and at Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). This independent duplication has resulted in the generation of reliable radiochemical analysis data. Based on the burnup calculations of major actinide (235U and 239Pu) and dosimetry samples, the neutron flux distribution and the flux level were adjusted at the locations where MA samples were irradiated. The burnup calculations were carried out for MAs using the determined flux distribution and flux level. The calculated results were compared with the experimental data. A brief description of sample preparation and irradiation and a detailed discussion of radiochemical analysis at JAERI are given in a companion paper. The current paper discusses the burnup calculations and the validation of MA cross-section data in evaluated nuclear data libraries.