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The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
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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.
Sami Penttilä, Aki Toivonen, Liisa Heikinheimo, Radek Novotny
Nuclear Technology | Volume 170 | Number 1 | April 2010 | Pages 261-271
Technical Paper | Special Issue on the 2008 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants / Materials for Nuclear Systems | doi.org/10.13182/NT10-A9463
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The High Performance Light Water Reactor (HPLWR) design is one of the concepts chosen for Generation IV reactors; however, the material requirements for HPLWR offer challenges because of the extreme operating temperatures and pressures. Consequently, general corrosion rates were studied in water at 300 to 650°C at supercritical pressure using weight gain measurements. Oxide thicknesses were determined from cross-section samples. The compositions of the oxide layers were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy in conjuction with energy dispersive spectroscopy. The surface layers of selected samples were analyzed also by X-ray diffraction. The test matrix included ten materials from four alloy classes: ferritic/martensitic steels, oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels, austenitic stainless steels, and nickel-base alloys. A high oxidation resistance was seen in Ni-base alloy 625, austenitic stainless steels with high Cr content (>18 wt% Cr), and an ODS steel containing 20% Cr at all applied test temperatures (300 to 650°C). The oxidation rates of austenitic stainless steels with lower Cr content, 15 to 18%, increase considerably at temperatures >500°C. The oxidation rates of 9% Cr ODS steels were moderate or high at all temperatures. Ferritic/martensitic steels showed high oxidation rates at all temperatures.