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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
EPA issues final rule regulating “forever chemicals”
The Environmental Protection Agency announced that it will issue a rule aimed at limiting public exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The final rule will designate two widely used PFAS chemicals, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as Superfund.
According to the EPA, both PFOA and PFOS meet the statutory criteria for designation as hazardous substances.
L. Stefan, N. Trantea, A. Roberts, S. Strikwerda, A. Antoniazzi, D. Zaharia
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 71 | Number 3 | April 2017 | Pages 236-240
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1288413
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
ICSI has recently completed the conceptual design of the Cernavoda Tritium Removal Facility (CTRF). CTRF is sized to process heavy water from 2 CANDU reactors, treating 40 kg/h of 10–54 Ci/kg heavy water over 40 years. CTRF removes tritium using Liquid Phase Catalytic Exchange (LPCE) paired with Cryogenic Distillation (CD).
The CTRF design has implemented improvements based on design and operational knowledge from DTRF, WTRF, ICSI pilot plant, other tritium laboratories, and industry. Additionally, there are site, client, and regulatory requirements that have imposed differences from other TRF designs. This paper identifies the key improvements and requirements, explains the rationale for the design choice and highlights drawbacks. The key improvements and requirements, grouped under four categories, include:
Safety – a Safe Shutdown State, higher seismic qualifications, restrictions on D2O transfers, extensive use of double containment;
Core Systems – use of a mixed catalyst bed for the LPCE, no catalytic oxidation skid, helium refrigeration system cooling of the cryoadsorbers, better control of the CD cascade by using pumps on reverse flows, and the use of a CuO reactor with molecular sieves dryers for cleanup of tritium in glovebox atmospheres;
Site, client and regulatory requirements – lower worker dose limits, independent utilities from nuclear Units 1 and 2, different targets for environmental releases and management of external hazards, and the application of the latest reactor grade Regulatory Standards in force in Romania;
Auxiliary systems, utilities, and the building – removal of H2-O2 recombiner catalyst from the Air Detritiation System, use of a PEM electrolytic cell for D2 makeup, and no need for steam in the CTRF facility.