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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. Postolache, Lidia Matei, Rodica Georgescu, Gh. Ionita
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 48 | Number 1 | July-August 2005 | Pages 220-223
Technical Paper | Tritium Science and Technology - Decontamination and Waste | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A916
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Due to the remarkable capacity of water retaining, croslinked polyacrylic acids (PAA) represent an interesting alternative for tritiated water trapping. The study was developed on radiolytical processes in PAA:HTO systems derivated from irradiation of polymeric network by disintegration of tritium atoms from HTO. The aim of these studies is the identification of polymeric structures and optimal storage conditions.Sol and gel fractions were determinated by radiometrical methods using PAA labeled with 14-C at carboxylic groups and T at main chains of the polymer. Simulation of radiolytical processes was realized using radiation field emitted by a irradiation source of 60-Co which ensures a maximum of absorbed dose rate of 3 kGy/h. Self-radiolytical effects were investigated using labeled PAA in HTO with great radioactive concentration (37-185 GBq/mL). The experiment suggests as optimum for HTO storage as tritium liquid wastes a 1:30 PAA:HTO swelling degree at 18.5-37 MBqL. HTO radioactive concentration.RES studies of radiolytical processes were also realized on dry polyacrylic acid (PAA) and polyacrylic based hydrogels irradiated and determined at 77 K. In the study we observed the effect of swelling capacity of hydrogel o the formation of free radicals.