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Latest News
DNFSB spots possible bottleneck in Hanford’s waste vitrification
Workers change out spent 27,000-pound TSCR filter columns and place them on a nearby storage pad during a planned outage in 2023. (Photo: DOE)
While the Department of Energy recently celebrated the beginning of hot commissioning of the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP), which has begun immobilizing the site’s radioactive tank waste in glass through vitrification, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has reported a possible bottleneck in waste processing. According to the DNFSB, unless current systems run efficiently, the issue could result in the interruption of operations at the WTP’s Low-Activity Waste Facility, where waste vitrification takes place.
During operations, the LAW Facility will process an average of 5,300 gallons of tank waste per day, according to Bechtel, the contractor leading design, construction, and commissioning of the WTP. That waste is piped to the facility after being treated by Hanford’s Tanks Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) system, which filters undissolved solid material and removes cesium from liquid waste.
According to a November 7 activity report by the DNFSB, the TSCR system may not be able to produce waste feed fast enough to keep up with the LAW Facility’s vitrification rate.
A. M. Zhukeshov, Zh. M. Moldabekov, B. M. Ibraev, A. U. Amrenova, A. T. Gabdullina
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 77 | Number 5 | July 2021 | Pages 359-365
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2021.1916273
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper is devoted to discussing the technical characteristics of pulsed plasma-focus (PF) generators and their features as fusion reactors as an alternative for stationary thermonuclear installations. First, the authors present results of experimental data obtained on the Pulse Plasma Accelerator–30 (PPA-30) and dense PF-4 devices. The pulse discharge current and jumped parameters and the energy distribution along and across the axis on the 31-kJ (at 30 kV and 69 μF) PPA-30 device were determined. It is indicated that plasma already is completely ionized at the kilo-ampere range and its inductance is small. The maximum energy density of the plasma was equal to 230 J/cm2 and a macrofocusing effect was observed. Second, the emission parameters of the PF-4 device were determinate. The neutron yield was equal to about 107 imp/shot. The variation of the axial and radial neutron yield was observed. Further, the problems of neutron yield on PF devices and options for the development of a fusion reactor taking into account other technical capabilities of PF are discussed. It is proposed to develop the design of PF in such a way as to take into account the peculiarities of the interaction of particles with an electric and magnetic field. In this situation, the important indicator is not the temperature of the plasma, but the geometry of the electrode system to provide a directed flow of particles.
