Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “FACILITY”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 613 records · Page 34
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Technical Basis for the Uranium Processing Facility Criticality Accident Alarm System

The technical basis for the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) Criticality Accident Alarm System (CAAS) 90% design has been completed. The CAAS design was evaluated for two primary processing facilities, the Main Processing Building (MPB) and the Salvage and Accountability Building (SAB), and for connected facilities known as the Personnel Support Building (PSB) and the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials facility (HEUMF) Connector (HCON), which connects UPF to existing Y-12 facilities. The evaluation focused on three primary areas to address requirements of ANSI/ANS-8.3: (1) detectability of the minimum accident of concern; (2) determination of areas where total dose could exceed 12 rad for the maximum anticipated accident yield; and (3) evaluation of the radiation tolerance of the detectors and associated control cabinets. The design was based on extensive analyses performed in MCNP6.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗
DOE OSTI2018

Downgrade of the 9204-2 Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex

This paper describes the downgrade of nuclear operations carried out in the 9204-2 facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Downgrading the 9204-2 Facility to non-nuclear status presented a unique challenge as an adjacent facility, 9204-2E, conducted nuclear operations in 9204-2 and analyzed those operations in the safety basis for the 9204-2 Facility. This paper discusses the methodologies used to downgrade the 9204-2 Facility and determine the final hazard categorization.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2017

Integrated Disposal Facility Performance Assessment: Modeling Consistency to Support Regulatory Decision Making at Hanford - 17398

Under DOE Order 435.1, 'Radioactive Waste Management', Washington River Protection Solutions, LLC and INTERA, Inc are currently preparing a performance assessment for the Hanford Integrated Disposal Facility, a near-surface low-activity waste disposal facility located on the Hanford Site in southeast Washington State. The disposal facility is expected to receive vitrified low-activity waste produced at the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, as well as other secondary solid wastes generated during the treatment process. The performance assessment performs the analyses that will be relied upon to receive the Disposal Authorization Statement, establish waste acceptance criteria, modify the RCRA permit for the facility and make a waste-incidental-to-reprocessing determination for the vitrified tank waste. In January 2006 in the case State of Washington v. Bodman (Civil No. 2:03-cv-05018-AAM), DOE, the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) and the State of Washington Attorney General's office reached a settlement agreement in Ecology's claim regarding off-site waste shipments to Hanford and the adequacy of modeling in the environmental impact statement. In response to the agreement, the DOE Office of Environmental Management set a policy to establish a consistent use of commercially available and public domain software for a vadose zone and groundwater model platform to support regulatory decisions at Hanford. In October 2012, the Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management released a memorandum to the manager of the Richland Operation Office directing how future environmental modeling activities to support regulatory decision making on the Hanford Site would be undertaken to be consistent with the 2006 settlement agreement. The preparation of the performance assessment must meet DOE Order 435.1 requirements and the additional direction provided by DOE. This paper will identify the approach taken to comply with the requirements in the 2012 memorandum. The paper will describe how environmental modeling performed for the 2017 Integrated Disposal Facility Performance Assessment was planned in a phased approach and how the current modeling is tied to the analyses that supported the decisions made in the environmental impact statement published in 2012. Additionally, the selection and qualification of the software selected to perform modeling activities for the performance assessment will be described. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2017

Characterization and D and D of PET Cyclotron and Radioisotope Production Facility - 17536

The State University of New York at Buffalo is in the process of the decontamination and decommissioning (D and D) of a cyclotron and radioisotope production facility located in Parker Hall on the South Campus. Many unique characterization activities are needed for compliant waste packaging, transportation, and disposal. In addition to the cyclotron used for successful production of radioisotopes, the facility features hot cells and glove boxes used for the purification and conditioning of the final product. Many challenges exist for the decommissioning of the cyclotron and the radioisotope production facility. These challenges include the proper characterization and management of the cyclotron, its associated equipment, and the remaining facility. Slightly activated concrete constitutes the majority of the remaining radioactive materials to be disposed of during the decommissioning. Challenges for this project include; - Regulatory interface between the New York Department of Health (NYDOH) and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for license closure; - Characterization of the cyclotron, its support equipment and the activated vault areas; - The most cost effective disposal options and the Data Quality Objectives needed for the various disposal options. The paper primarily focuses on challenges for characterization of the cyclotron and the remaining radioisotope production facility at the University at Buffalo. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2015

Centre de la manche disposal facility after ten years of institutional control - 15255

Centre de la Manche disposal facility is the first French surface disposal facility for low and intermediate level short lived radioactive waste. It has been operated for 25 years, from 1969 to 1994. The facility was licensed for the institutional control period in 2003. As there were significant changes in the design of vaults or in waste acceptance criteria during the 25 years of operation, it was decided to implement a capping system including a bituminous membrane that would be able to sustain strains that might be caused by the settlement of waste packages in the eldest parts of the facility, where conditioning modes were different than those as presently practiced. In 2008 Andra submitted to ASN, the regulatory body in France, a file related to the safety of the facility including a study of the opportunity to modify capping system. Andra's project was to improve long term watertightness and to stabilize the sides of the cover by smoother slopes through a progressive approach. This file was completed in early 2015 by a progress report providing in particular results on studies related to the durability of the bituminous membrane. They take into account periodical measurements performed on samples of the membrane extracted from the capping system and studies performed on the phenomenology of ageing of the membrane. These data support the strategy of improvement of the capping system developed by Andra in order to achieve a more passive surveillance. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2015

Safety assessment for the radon-type surface disposal facility at Saakadze, Georgia - 15406

The Saakadze disposal facility is located about 40 km from Tbilisi and was planned and constructed during Soviet times as Radon-type surface facility to accommodate up to 600 m{sup 3} of low and intermediate level waste generated on the territory of Georgia. The disposal facility was operated from 1963 until its closure in 1995. The vast majority of waste in the Saakadze facility has been disposed of in two near surface concrete vaults with typical Radon-type dimensions, which cover layers already show significant structural damages. In order to assess the present safety of the site and provide the competent Georgian authorities with the necessary basis to take decisions in regard to the future of the repository, the European Commission launched and financially supported a project, which was assigned to a consortium of TUV-Nord ENSYS GmbH and DBE Technology GmbH. The safety assessment of Saakadze facility, which was an essential part of this project and which is the subject of this paper was carried out by DBE Technology GmbH. The Government of Georgia has been gradually increasing efforts to improve the regulatory processes and the legislation on nuclear and radiation safety, and, in particular, on safe management of radioactive waste and sealed radioactive sources. Currently, however, there are still areas where specific Georgian laws and regulations do not exist. Accordingly, in certain aspects IAEA recommendations and best practices were used as guidelines for the methodology of the safety assessment. In spite of the large uncertainties to be considered, especially in regard to the inventory, preliminary results of the safety assessment indicate that scenarios related to the groundwater pathway do not lead to radiological impacts that are above or near to limiting values. However, human intrusion scenarios might lead to dose rates for the critical group that are exceeding these values. This is mainly due to the fact that today there is no proper engineered cover on top of the concrete vaults. Based on the comparison of existing options and considering the results of the long-term safety assessment, it is recommended to backfill the remaining voids inside the concrete vaults and to construct an engineered cover to reduce the probability of human intrusion scenarios and to minimize their potential impact. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

Realization of the National Disposal Facility for Radioactive Waste in Bulgaria - 16611

Radioactive waste is generated in the Republic of Bulgaria from the operation and decommissioning of the country's nuclear power plants and from other sources in research, medical applications, and the industry. The need for building a National Disposal Facility (NDF) is recognized by the Bulgarian government and described and justified in its Environment Impact Assessment Decision. The Bulgarian State Enterprise for Radioactive Waste Management (SERAW) is endeavoring to build a near-surface repository for short-lived low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (SL-LILW) to discharge its statutory responsibilities in waste management is. The European Union (EU) finances the establishment of the NDF through the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund (KIDSF). After an international tendering procedure, SERAW placed a contract for the development of the design of the NDF to the Consortium of Westinghouse Electric Spain S.A.R and DBE Technology GmbH of Germany, with ENRESA, the Spanish National Waste Management Agency providing technical review and support. Two Bulgarian companies participate also in the project as subcontractors - EQE Bulgaria and to a lesser extent KK-Project. The repository project official name is 'Technical Design and ISAR Preparation for the National Disposal Facility at Bulgaria', usually abbreviated as 'R-Project 5'. After obtaining SERAW's approval for the preferred repository conceptual design variant, the R Project 5 focused on developing the Technical Design on the one hand, and on preparing the Intermediate Safety Analysis Report (ISAR) to demonstrate the safety and suitability of the proposed NDF design on the other. These documents were handed over to the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (BNRA) as well as to the different authorities involved in the comprehensive licensing process required for nuclear facilities in the country. The corresponding permits have mostly been received or are expected for early 2016. In the last quarter of 2015 the procurement procedure for repository construction as turn-key project was started with the pre-qualification of possible constructors for the Phase I repository realization on a lump sum contract basis. Repository construction is now expected to start in 2016, with the start of waste disposal now scheduled for around 2020. With the realization of the Bulgarian National Disposal Facility an important milestone for waste disposal in the European Union is about to be achieved. This paper is a sequel of previously presented papers on the NDF construction, now including details of the complex licensing process that this disposal facility underwent, now in its final stages. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2018

Unique Facilities, Innovative Treatment Processes, and a Talented Workforce Allow Fluor Idaho to Successfully Disposition Transuranic Waste - 18388

Fluor Idaho is utilizing state-of-the-art equipment, treatment technologies, and employee expertise at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Idaho Site to treat contact-handled transuranic (CH-TRU) waste, as well as extremely challenging remote-handled transuranic (RH-TRU) waste forms, to prepare the material for shipment and permanent disposal at the Department's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Nowhere else in the DOE Complex - perhaps the world - will one find the compilation of tools and an experienced workforce with an unparalleled history of safely retrieving, characterizing, treating, repackaging, certifying, and shipping TRU waste. Since 2003, the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) has used both conventional and unique retrieval concepts, high-tech characterization equipment - including real-time radiography and radioassay - robotics, and automated treatment processes to retrieve and treat 65,000 cubic meters of above-ground CH-TRU waste. Additionally, engineered controls and specialized personal protective equipment have allowed employees to make thousands of entries into high-radiation areas without a skin or clothing contamination incident - evidence of the employees' commitment to safety. AMWTP has encountered and found solutions for many challenging waste forms, including polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated wastes, TRU waste containers with up to 1,000 fissile gram equivalent plutonium-239, oversized TRU boxes, and partially absorbed organic sludge waste. By utilizing additional facilities and equipment at the Accelerated Retrieval Project V and VII, Fluor Idaho has developed new processing lines and capabilities to ensure worker safety and milestone completion. These two soft-sided buildings, located at a facility adjacent to AMWTP, were originally constructed to exhume Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) TRU wastes from a section of a 97-acre landfill. After a total of 1,150 cubic meters of targeted waste were removed, personnel, working in collaboration with state regulators, successfully implemented a unique regulatory strategy that allowed these CERCLA facilities to be modified and permitted to treat Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) wastes from the AMWTP - a savings of tens of millions of dollars over the cost of constructing new buildings. Adding to the AMWTP's technological uniqueness is its ability to treat wastes from other facilities in the DOE Complex. Two prior decision documents and an agreement with the state of Idaho have allowed AMWTP to treat wastes from 15 other DOE sites. It is the only project in the complex to have done so. At another project located next to AMWTP, targeted waste exhumation within the Subsurface Disposal Area is approximately two years ahead of schedule. Crews have removed more than 8,600 cubic meters of CH-TRU and hazardous wastes from eight exhumation areas that equal a combined footprint of 4.75 acres. Less than one acre remains to be exhumed to satisfy the 2008 Record of Decision waste exhumation end state between the DOE, Environmental Protection Agency, and state of Idaho. Construction of the final building where targeted waste exhumation will continue was completed during the summer of 2017. Exhumation will be completed within the next few years. Following exhumation completion, an evapotranspiration barrier (or cap) will be constructed over the entire landfill. Fluor Idaho continues to make progress on a more challenging project involving an inventory of RH-TRU waste that also contains the reactive metal sodium. Crews are utilizing hot cells, once used for spent nuclear fuel reprocessing and high-level waste treatment at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center, to render this challenging waste form safe for disposal in a national geologic waste repository. The treatment methods being employed on this RH-TRU waste are unique in the DOE Complex. Minute concentrations of water are sprayed onto the sodium-contaminated material in a process called 'spritzing' to chemically change the sodium from a reactive metal to a non-reactive salt. In other cases, sodium-contaminated waste is dipped in water to initiate a reaction in a process called 'immersion.' Lastly, for more challenging waste shapes that could not be successfully treated with the two prior methods, crews lower the sodium-contaminated RH-TRU waste into a one-of-a-kind distillation unit that uses high temperature and vacuum to volatilize the sodium and recapture it in a condenser unit for disposal. The RH-TRU waste treated with this technology is then safe for permanent disposal. Fluor Idaho is proud to operate DOE's CH- and RH-TRU waste treatment facilities, as well as use innovative processes and its talented workforce to complete this important work-scope. Such capabilities allow the contractor to meet the commitments made by the DOE to the state of Idaho. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2018

Integration of Models for the Hanford Integrated Disposal Facility Performance Assessment - 18541

The Department of Energy Office of River Protection and its contractors have performed a performance assessment for the near-surface disposal of low-level and mixed low-level waste at the Hanford Integrated Disposal Facility. The long-term performance of the Hanford Integrated Disposal Facility to be protective of human health and the environment was evaluated under the requirements of United States Department of Energy Order 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management. Computer simulations were performed to evaluate whether or not the disposal facility would comply with the performance objectives specified in the order. The evaluation was performed using numerical models to simulate source term releases from vitrified and cement-based waste forms. Source term releases were subsequently transported through the facility into the natural system beneath the facility (comprised of an 85-meter thick vadose zone and thinner but highly conductive saturated zone overlying basalt) to a point of compliance 100-meters downstream from the disposed waste. Due to the differing scales in the finite difference models developed for the source terms and those developed for the natural system, numerical models for source term release and natural system flow and transport were not directly coupled. Instead, the output from the source term simulations were used as input to the natural system flow and transport simulations. The decoupling of the modeled systems makes it difficult to explore synergies and investigate the impact of parameter uncertainties. In order to explore system synergies and evaluate parameter uncertainty, an integrated system model was developed that includes source term release models, natural system transport models, and dose calculations. This paper will describe how the numerical models were used to develop abstractions that could be incorporated into the integrated system level model that was then used to explore system synergies and parameter uncertainties. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

DOC-WMF - A Generic Model for Assessment of Waste Disposal Facilities - 19278

Numerical models and computer codes play an important role in the safety assessment of nuclear waste disposal facilities, as well as in the regulatory review of proponents' safety assessments. An important part of a safety assessment is the radiation dose calculation. This paper presents a computer code called DOC-WMF for calculating radiation dose from nuclear waste disposal facilities. DOC-WMF is a generic code that could be used for dose calculations for deep geological or near surface disposal facilities of nuclear wastes. DOC-WMF is much faster than complicated 3-D numerical models in terms of computational speed since the model uses the commercial code GoldSim as the computation engine which is based on analytical solutions for contaminant transport. As a result, it enables a user to quickly assess the dose consequences of multiple options or scenarios for a nuclear waste disposal facility. DOC-WMF was adapted from, and an improvement to, the Scoping of Options and Analyzing Risk (SOAR) model developed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC). A key improvement over the SOAR model is that DOC-WMF allows the calculation of dose contributions from other pathways such as food ingestion and air inhalation in addition to the drinking water pathway which is the sole dose contribution considered in the SOAR model. DOC-WMF also allows for: the consideration of 55 radionuclides with option to add more if required; the choice of source release method; various pathways to the biosphere; and dose calculations including an extended array of exposure pathways. In addition, DOC-WMF can simulate more complex hydrogeological settings and waste forms than SOAR does. DOC-WMF was compared against known analytical solutions for verification. It was then applied to two test cases and the results were compared. The first was a hypothetical deep geological disposal repository. The second test case was a near-surface nuclear waste disposal facility. DOC-WMF independently modeled these two test cases and achieved similar results as the more complicated numerical models did. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Taking in Nuclear Operation of the Plasma Facility for Treatment Industrial Radioactive Waste - 19346

The operation and maintenance of nuclear power plants, the nuclear fuel cycle in general, research laboratories and pharmaceutical, medical and industrial facilities generate low-level radioactive waste which, along with the historical radioactive waste from past nuclear activities, needs to be treated and stored, awaiting final disposal. Plasma technology offers a very effective way of treating this waste with a high volume reduction factor (VRF), free from organics, liquids and moisture, and meets without a doubt the acceptance criteria for safe storage and disposal. By means of a plasma beam of approximately 5000 deg. C, the inorganic materials are melted into a glassy slag, containing most of the radioactive isotopes while the organic material is gasified and afterwards oxidized in an afterburner and purified in an off-gas cleaning system. This paper describes the principles of plasma, the different waste feed systems, off-gas treatment and operational experience and future plasma plants. More specifically, it presents the new full-scale plasma facility for the treatment of radioactive waste at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant in Bulgaria for which construction and assembly was finalized end of August 2016. It also describes in more detail the Site Acceptance Tests (SAT) of this facility. Previous paper describes the construction and testing of the plasma melting facility at the Kozloduy NPP in Bulgaria. Now the paper focus on the nuclear starting up conducted in May 2018 with real radioactive waste and illustrates the first operational results such as types of waste treated, volume reduction factors, etc The Project was co-financed through a grant by Kozloduy International Decommissioning fund (KIDSF) administrated by the EBRD and through Bulgarian national funding -Nuclear Facilities Decommissioning Fund and Radioactive Waste Fund. The KIDSF is funded by the European Union as well by the contributors to the KIDSF - Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland, The Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom and Switzerland. (author)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Application of the PHDS Germanium Gamma-ray Imager (GeGI) in Facility Decontamination Assessment - 19471

As part of a site wide investigation, U.S. EPA Region 5 had to assess the nature and extent of contamination in a former radioactive source manufacturing facility. This work involved verification of the radioisotope expected, ensuring no other radioisotopes were present, and quantification of the activity and areal extent of contamination throughout the facility. The device used to support this assessment work was the Germanium Gamma-ray Imager (GeGI) manufactured by PHDS Co. of Knoxville, Tennessee. GeGI is a germanium-semiconductor imaging detector system that provides identification, location, and quantification of radioactive materials within its field of view. GeGI provides the highest fidelity radiological assay information including the best gamma-ray energy resolution and spatial localization of any existing technology, including gamma-ray energy resolution of ∼0.3% full-width half-max (FWHM) at 662 keV and angular location resolution ∼ +/-1 degree. The GeGI is a mechanically cooled, portable system well-suited to field operations. PHDS Co. also provided on-site support during assessment operations and performed subsequent data analysis. Gamma-ray spectral data and associated images were collected with GeGI in six primary areas of the facility having significant residual contamination. A total of 61 gamma-ray spectrum/image sets were collected over the course of three working days (22 Compton images and 39 Pinhole/Compton images). During data collection, Compton imaging was used as the means by which to identify and prioritize hotspots. After contaminated regions were identified via Compton imaging, short-distance Pinhole spectrum/image sets were collected for additional analysis. All of the spectrum/image sets were analyzed to determine the radioisotope distribution within the GeGI field of view, as well as to provide an estimate of the activity associated with each hotspot. It was determined that the nature of residual contamination present was distributed across specific areas of elevated activity, where in some areas there was significant accumulation of contaminated material. It was also determined that no discrete sources of high-activity were present, as would be expected in the case of radioactive material product intended for sealed source manufacture. Results included the activity of residual contamination for each of the areas assessed, and an estimate of the physical area over which that contamination was distributed. It was anticipated by EPA that if decontamination were to be performed that it would involve some type of concrete scabbling or other means of physical removal of contaminated material. The GeGI data could be used to estimate the areal extent (square footage) of concrete removal that would be required for decontamination. Using the activity estimate data from the GeGI along with an estimated depth of concrete removal, planning could be performed for decontamination work (equipment and personnel), waste collection, packaging, transportation, and disposal, along with an associated cost estimate. With regard to health and safety, use of the GeGI reduced the radiation dose to the EPA R5 staff performing the assessment work. The GeGI is a non-destructive device that supports assessment of radioactively contaminated areas and sources from a distance, reducing the need for close contact to radiation, and the time necessary for personnel to operate near such hazards. Use of the GeGI in this facility assessment was our first attempt to apply this technology in what proved to be a quick and efficient decontamination assessment method. The GeGI can assess the nature and extent of residual contamination in a facility, first by quickly identifying the areas of elevated activity, followed by refined measurement and assessment of those elevated areas. The GeGI data can then be used to develop planning and a cost estimate of required decontamination and waste management activities. Since it's a non-destructive gamma identification and imaging device, it can reduce the distance of workers from radioactive sources and the dose incurred from assessment work. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Safety Classification and Design Rules for Structures, Systems and Components in a Near Surface Disposal Facility-Post Closure Phase - 19716

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) is developing a Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) to be constructed at its Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) site. In general, a NSDF is a facility for radioactive waste disposal, under an engineered cover, located at or within a few meters of the earth's surface. The NSDF will establish a safe, local and permanent means for the disposal of low level radioactive waste. The NSDF is intended to dispose historic waste currently in interim storage as well as waste arising from building decommissioning and environmental remediation activities. The NSDF is to be composed of engineered containment mound, waste water treatment plant and other supporting facilities and infrastructures that are needed to preserve radioactive waste. The NSDF life cycle will comprise two distinct phases: pre closure and post closure. The pre closure phase involves construction, operation and closure activities. The post closure phase includes institutional control and post-institutional control to ensure long term safety and radiological acceptability of the disposal facility. As part of the evolving activities for the NSDF project, a process is developed in accordance with Canadian regulations and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) principles to classify systems that comprise NSDF for safe operation, long term safety of the disposal facility and the protection of workers, the public and the environment. This paper describes the methodology developed to classify Structures, Systems and Components (SSCs) important to safety in post closure phase and determine their design rules. The design rules are the relevant codes, standards and proven engineering practices that should be applied, as appropriate, to the design of SSCs to meet the applicable design requirements. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

Current Status of the Synroc Waste Treatment Facility - 20263

Construction of the Synroc Waste Treatment Facility is well underway at ANSTO. This plant has been designed to treat intermediate level liquid waste arising from the production of Mo-99 within the newly constructed ANSTO Nuclear Medicine (ANM) precinct [1]. The facility utilises ANSTO Synroc technology that has been tailored to the chemical, physical, and radiological properties of the waste. The result is a highly durable wasteform with a significant reduction in the final volume of the treated waste. This paper presents the construction status of the Synroc Waste Treatment Facility and the status of the associated technology maturation plan. Construction of the building is scheduled for completion in late 2020 followed by process installation and commissioning. A key component of the technology maturation plan has been the construction of an Inactive Engineering Demonstrator [2]. This has aided in the mitigation of risks with respect to technology selection, process integration, and process nuclearisation. Furthermore, the demonstration facility has provided an environment for the design and development of the instrumentation and control philosophy resulting in a seamlessly integrated plant control system. Successful demonstration of the technology by the inactive engineering demonstrator has significantly reduced the associated risks. Details of the Synroc Waste Treatment Facility project progress will also be presented. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Port Hope Areas Initiative's Port Granby Project: The Decontamination of Site Equipment from a Low Level Waste Facility - 20330

The Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) is the Government of Canada's response to the community recommended solutions for the remediation and safe, long-term management of historic low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) that was the result of uranium and radium processing operations in the Municipality of Port Hope, Ontario from the 1930's to the 1980's. The Eldorado refinery, on the shores of Lake Ontario, began refining radium-226 from pitchblende ore, later transitioning to the refining of uranium ore. Process residues were deposited at the Welcome Waste Management Facility in Port Hope until the mid-1950's switching to the Port Granby Waste Management Facility (PGWMF), which continued to accept waste until the late 1980's. The Port Granby Project involves the construction of a new, secure long-term waste management facility (LTWMF) and supporting infrastructure, and the excavation and relocation of approximately 1,200,000 m{sup 3} of historic low-level radioactive waste and marginally contaminated soil from the PGWMF to the newly constructed LTWMF. Since the project's inception in 2016, the bulk of the material has since been moved to the final long term storage cell. This has taken over 500,000 person-hours and a large amount of one site heavy equipment to accomplish including excavators, bulldozers, rock trucks, baker tanks and vacuum trucks. While many of the pieces of heavy equipment and water management equipment has further work to do on site, several of the sites larger items have already undergone the decontamination process prior to release from the site. This process has posed a serious challenge as the waste has a caustic nature to it and over the last few years it has had time to work its way into the metallic structures and framework of the equipment. Coupled with the tight work spaces and in some cases confined work areas there have been many issues that needed to be addressed to successfully reach a state where items can be free released to the unrestricted limits of the sites license. This ongoing process has led to a more refined decontamination program at the Port Granby Facility and has had a rather high success rate considering the length of time the equipment has been exposed to the waste materials on site. This paper discusses the varied challenges of decontamination faced at a low-level radioactive waste facility with a focus on the following aspects: - Challenges faced regarding different equipment types and the solutions implemented by Wood to address these challenges; - An examination of various decontamination methods employed throughout the project; and - Lessons learned over three years of remediation work and how they impact the decontamination process. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

Equity Considerations in Siting Consolidated Interim Storage Facilities for Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel

Questions of equity and fairness are often raised by representatives from State, Tribal and local governments and members of the public when resolving conflicts over siting of nuclear facilities. However, the two terms are not synonymous: equity can be quantified while fairness is much more subjective. The Department of Energy's (DOE) December 2021 Request for Information sought input on how to site federal facilities for the temporary, consolidated storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) using a consent-based approach. It is anticipated that just such questions about equity and fairness associated with the potential emergence of more than one host site may be raised by the twelve groups of university, nonprofit and private sector partners (Consortia) working to support community engagement, inclusively involve stakeholders, build relationships, and develop innovative forms of mutual learning and public capacity to participate in the consent-based siting process for a federal consolidated interim storage facility during the current Planning & Capacity Building stage of the consent-based siting process. In terms of DOE's Integrated Waste Management System (IWMS), sociopolitical equity concepts are a factor in all aspects of IWMS development and operations and will be particularly applicable should two or more host sites become a possibility, either by the emergence of multiple volunteer hosts or by pursuit as a IWMS program strategy. This paper summarizes recent analyses that explore how four equity metrics - number of states, division of the projected SNF total by the year 2083, current population and land area - might be perceived by host communities, states and regions if two, three or four sites for hosting federal consolidated interim storage facilities were to be contemporaneously realized. Existing institutional arrangements, including Nuclear Regulatory Commission regions, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regions and Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compacts, were selected to create hypothetically merged two, three and four-region scenarios to calculate how the four metrics balance out. Projected SNF burden was prioritized with regional contiguity of the consolidated regions a requirement for a functional scenario. The intent was not to promote or suggest any construct as a program objective; the configurations are geopolitical abstractions only to explore potential perceptions of equity. Understanding the possible issues of equity that could arise may benefit program efforts toward achieving a cooperative federalism wherein both the federal and multiple State governments share the goal of manifesting more than one federal consolidated interim storage facility. The main finding is that it is not possible to optimize for all four metrics simultaneously. The analyses demonstrate that trying to create a sense of equity by backfitting a solution to a random population and land distribution will always contain a degree of artificiality.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2017

Design, Fabrication and Start-up of Test Facilities for the LAWPS Full-Scale IX Column Test and Engineering Scale Test - 17418

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of River Protection's (ORP) primary mission is to retrieve and treat Hanford's tank waste and close the Tank Farms to protect the Columbia River. Mixed radioactive waste is stored in 177 underground tanks at the Hanford Site as reported in DOE/ORP 2003-02, Environmental Impact Statement for Retrieval, Treatment, and Disposal of Tank Waste and Closure of the Single Shell Tanks at the Hanford Site, Richland WA, Inventory and Source Term Data Package. The 177 underground tanks are estimated to contain about 56 million gallons of waste. The Low Activity Waste Pretreatment System (LAWPS) Project provides for the early production of immobilized low activity waste (ILAW) by feeding LAW directly from Tank Farms to the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant's (WTP's) LAW Facility, bypassing the Pretreatment Facility. Prior to the transfer of feed to the WTP LAW Vitrification Facility, tank supernatant waste will be pretreated in the LAWPS to meet the WTP LAW waste acceptance criteria. The LAWPS will also facilitate the return of secondary liquid wastes from the WTP LAW Vitrification Facility to the Tank Farms. In November of 2015 DOE's Tank Operations Contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), awarded a contract to the AECOM Team to design, fabricate and operate two test platforms to generate performance data at two different scales and demonstrate technology maturation. The first platform models the ion exchange (IX) columns at full scale, and the second platform models the integrated flowsheet (cross flow filter (CFF) and IX) at 1/9. scale. Both test platforms underwent shakedown and start-up testing in August 2016 and moved into actual testing and NQA-1 data generation shortly thereafter. This paper covers the engineering design, procurement, construction, installation, and acceptance testing of the test platforms (which are now operational) under an aggressive fast track schedule, and initial test data as available. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

Environmentally improved CdTe photovoltaic recycling through novel technologies and facility location strategies

Abstract Photovoltaic waste is projected to reach up to 78 million tons across globally dispersed locations through 2050. Current recycling infrastructure is inadequate to process these waste volumes responsibly. This necessitates commercializing novel, environmentally advantageous photovoltaic recycling technologies that improve upon incumbent industrial operations. CdTe photovoltaic recycling is a promising candidate for improvements as 25,000 tons of spent modules are recycled worldwide annually. This paper evaluates the operational performance and compares six novel technologies, the incumbent technology used in industry and one technology which extends the incumbent process across ten environmental impact categories. The tradeoff between incurring a transportation burden (ship or road) to recycle in a large‐scale centralized facility with a higher operational efficiency and avoiding transportation by recycling in a small‐scale decentralized facility with a lower operational efficiency is evaluated. Thermal delamination to eliminate the ethylene vinyl acetate and separate the photovoltaic glass panels is preferable to the incumbent mechanical process across nine environmental impact categories and decreases the climate‐change impact of CdTe photovoltaic recycling by 23%. Bath and probe sonication are ineffective for delamination, and the use of organic solvents is more environmentally burdensome than the incumbent mechanical process. Centralized recycling with shipping is environmentally preferable than with road‐based transportation. For every 100‐km increase in road transportation from the decentralized to the centralized facility, the inventory requirement in the centralized facility should be 6% lower than the decentralized facility for centralized recycling to have a lower climate‐change impact than decentralized recycling. The corresponding value for shipping is 0.4%.

Ravikumar, Dwarakanath↗