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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.
Carmen Varlam, Irina Vagner, Ionut Făurescu, Anisia Bornea, Denisa Făurescu, Diana Bogdan
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 80 | Number 3 | April-May 2024 | Pages 391-398
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2230413
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The electrolysis process is essential in the water detritiation subsystem using the combined electrolytic catalytic exchange process. A special experimental program was designed to characterize a modified HOGEN H Series industrial electrolyzer. The tritium amount transferred to hydrogen gas, the water enrichment factor, and the number of hours necessary to attain a steady-state regime were parameters of primary interest in the experiments. To minimize the necessary time for a steady-state regime, the holdup of the water electrolyzer was chosen as the minimum value allowed for safe and constant parameter operation in all experiments. The stationary regime was attained after 120 h, with an enrichment factor near 5, and an amount of 18% to 19% of tritium transferred from tritium-enriched water to hydrogen gas. These parameters were obtained in all three experiments, and the modeling software of isotope separation by electrolysis confirmed the results.