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Fusion Science and Technology
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WIPP: Lessons in transportation safety
As part of a future consent-based approach by the federal government to site new deep geologic repositories for nuclear waste, local communities and states that are considering hosting such facilities are sure to have many questions. Currently, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is the only example of such a repository in operation, and it offers the opportunity for state and local officials to visit and judge for themselves the risks and benefits of hosting a similar facility. But its history can also provide lessons for these officials, particularly the political process leading up to the opening of WIPP, the safety of WIPP operations and transportation of waste from generator facilities to the site, and the economic impacts the project has had on the local area of Carlsbad, as well as the rest of the state of New Mexico.
Stephen A. Birdsell, R. Scott Willms, Richard C. Wilhelm
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 30 | Number 3 | December 1996 | Pages 905-910
Fuel Cycle and Tritium Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST96-A11963053
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A 2-stage cold (non-tritium) PMR system was tested with the ITER mix* in 61 days of continuous operation. No decrease in performance was observed over the duration of the test. Decontamination factor (DF) was found to increase with decreasing inlet rate. Decontamination factors in excess of 1.4×105 were obtained, but the exact value of the highest DF could not be determined because of analysis limitations.
Results of the 61-day test were used to design a 2-stage PMR system for use in tritium testing. The PMR system was scaled up by a factor of 6 and built into a glovebox in the Tritium Systems Test Assembly (TSTA) of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. This system is approximately 1/5th of the expected full ITER scale. The ITER mix was injected into the PMR system for 31 hours, during which 4.5 g of tritium were processed. The 1st stage had DF =200 and the 2nd stage had DF=2.9×106. The overall DF=5.8×108, which is greater than ITER requirements.
