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The mission of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division (NNPD) is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology while simultaneously preventing the diversion and misuse of nuclear material and technology through appropriate safeguards and security, and promotion of nuclear nonproliferation policies. To achieve this mission, the objectives of the NNPD are to: Promote policy that discourages the proliferation of nuclear technology and material to inappropriate entities. Provide information to ANS members, the technical community at large, opinion leaders, and decision makers to improve their understanding of nuclear nonproliferation issues. Become a recognized technical resource on nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and security issues. Serve as the integration and coordination body for nuclear nonproliferation activities for the ANS. Work cooperatively with other ANS divisions to achieve these objective nonproliferation policies.
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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.
C. Poletiko, P. Trabuc, J. Durand, B. Tormos, L. Pignoly
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 48 | Number 1 | July-August 2005 | Pages 194-199
Technical Paper | Tritium Science and Technology - Decontamination and Waste | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A910
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Due to its high diffusivity and different trapping phenomena, tritium is present in materials, such as steels which are in use in different parts of a nuclear power reactor or even in graphite which is present in fusion reactor.From waste management point of view, it is necessary to know as accurately as possible the tritium inventory in such materials before disposal. Moreover the knowledge of tritium species (HTO or HT. . .) is also a significant information in case of detritiation prior to storage, since countries regulation already limit tritium contents and releases. There are three different strategies for tritiated waste management. The first one consists in a storage with confinement packages the second one is waiting for radioactive decay. The third one consists in the application of detritiation processes.Studies have been performed to determine different processes that could be used for tritium removal. The aim of this paper was, to study, at laboratory scale, different procedures which may be used for stainless steels and carbon materials detritiation.Thermal detritiation kinetics till 1300 K has been studied under various atmospheres; full chemical dissolution of samples has also been performed both for steel and graphite, this to perfectly know the tritium content in such matrices. Finally a study of tritium content in steel layers has also been made, to learn about the tritium behaviour. All results are given, allowing the possibility to take a decision either for detritiation procedure or storage conditions.The main result is that thermal out-gassing enables higher than 95 % tritium extraction from the bulk at temperature in the range of 600K, without any material destruction under Hytec gas (Ar + 5% volume H2).