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Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
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Fusion Science and Technology
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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.
Viorel Fugaru, Cristian Postolache, Maria Gheorghe, Lidia Radu, Nastasia Saca
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 71 | Number 3 | April 2017 | Pages 286-289
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1293444
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The study was conducted in order to determine the immobilization performance of low-level tritium waste in new cement mixtures. The grouts analyzed are fine mortars, fluid, self- compacting, with flowability, able to fill the smallest gaps in the solid waste container. The grouts curing showed compact and structural integrity without pores and cracks, so as to ensure radioactive tritium waste encapsulation.
Two types of solid/liquid tritium radioactive waste with known tritium activity have been prepared: one type containing a hydrophilic tritium compound and the other one a hydrophobic tritium compound.
The tritium waste was mixed with three different types of grout and poured in a cylindrical mould. The leaching of tritium from waste solidified/encapsulated in the cement mixtures immersed in an aqueous environment has been studied in order to select the most appropriate grout type as waste immobilization matrix.
Samples from the liquid surrounding the cements blocks were collected at predetermined time intervals and placed in the liquid scintillation cocktail and measured. The activity of the tritium released was then calculated.
