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DOE OSTI2017

Hanford's Double-Shell Tank AY-102 Recovery Project - 17416

Since at least August 2012, Hanford Tank 241-AY-102 (AY-102) has been leaking from its primary tank into its secondary containment. A pumping plan was developed in 2013 to provide a path forward for recommended remediation actions to be implemented as part of the AY-102 Recovery Project. On March 21, 2014, the Washington State Department of Ecology issued Administrative Order No. 10618 requiring Washington River Protection Solutions and the United States Department of Energy to conduct actions related to and including the removal of waste from AY-102. The three parties agreed to resolve the appeal of the Administrative Order through a Settlement Agreement which addresses the remaining requirements and implements enforceable milestone dates, including initiation of waste retrieval by March 4, 2016 and completion of waste retrieval operations by March 4, 2017. The AY-102 Recovery Project was developed to address the Settlement Agreement requirements. While retrieval of waste from Single-Shell Tanks has been performed at Hanford for decades, retrieval from Double-Shell Tank AY-102 required adaptation of the existing technologies to a new environment on a larger scale than previously encountered. A significant number of obstructions and in-tank equipment limit accessibility to the high source term AY-102 waste and the location of the selected receiver tank required installation of an extensive, heavily-shielded above-ground transfer line. Despite countless challenges and obstacles encountered throughout, the project successfully completed system design, fabrication, installation, testing, and the first phase of operations within a highly compressed, aggressive schedule. Waste retrieval operations in AY-102 commenced on March 3, 2016 and the initial operating phase concluded on April 30. Additional sluicing capability was required to complete the mission and four Extended Reach Sluicers were installed to support the second operating phase, which began on December 8, 2016. As of December 31, 2016, approximately 97% of the original waste volume had been removed, resulting in an estimated remaining waste volume of about 75,000 liters. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2017

Waste Form Development for Solidification of Liquid Secondary Wastes to Support Hanford Direct Feed Low Activity Waste Vitrification - 17484

The US Department of Energy/Office of River Protection DOE/ORP has funded a program led by Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) to develop and test cementitious waste forms for immobilization of liquid secondary waste (LSW) at the Hanford site in Southeastern Washington State. The LSW comprises a concentrated brine from processing liquid effluents at Hanford's Effluent Treatment Facility. The liquid effluents include condensates from the 242-A tank waste evaporator and future offgas condensates from the Low Activity Waste (LAW) Vitrification Facility. To facilitate waste form formulation development and testing, WRPS developed LSW simulants and engaged subject matter experts at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). This paper describes results of recent work done to develop and test a grout formulation tailored to address the elevated sulfate levels in Hanford LSW. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2015

Technetium incorporation in glass for the Hanford Tank Waste treatment and immobilization plant - 15066

A priority of the United States Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) is to dispose of nuclear wastes accumulated in 177 underground tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in eastern Washington State. These nuclear wastes date from the Manhattan Project of World War II and from plutonium production during the Cold War. The DOE plans to separate high-level radioactive wastes from low activity wastes and to treat each of the waste streams by vitrification (immobilization of the nuclides in glass) for disposal. The immobilized low-activity waste will be disposed of here at Hanford and the immobilized high-level waste at the national geologic repository. Included in the inventory of highly radioactive wastes is large volumes of {sup 99}Tc (∼9 x 10 E2 TBq or ∼2.5 x 10{sup 4} Ci or ∼1500 kg). A problem facing safe disposal of Tc-bearing wastes is the processing of waste feed into in a chemically durable waste form. Technetium incorporates poorly into silicate glass in traditional glass melting. It readily evaporates during melting of glass feeds and out of the molten glass, leading to a spectrum of high-to-low retention (ca. 20 to 80%) in the cooled glass product. DOE-ORP currently has a program at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Rutgers University and in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University that seeks to understand aspects of Tc retention by means of studying Tc partitioning, molten salt formation, volatilization pathways, and cold cap chemistry. Another problem involves the stability of Tc in glass in both the national geologic repository and on-site disposal after it has been immobilized. The major environmental concern with {sup 99}Tc is its high mobility in addition to a long half-life (2.1 x 10{sup 5} yrs). The pertechnetate ion (TcO{sup 4-}) is highly soluble in water and does not adsorb well onto the surface of minerals and so migrates nearly at the same velocity as groundwater. Long-term corrosion of glass waste forms is an area of current interest to the DOE, but attention to the release of Tc from glass has been little explored. It is expected that the release of Tc from glass should be highly dependent on the local glass structure as well as the chemistry of the surrounding environment, including groundwater pH. Though the speciation of Tc in glass has been previously studied, and the Tc species present in waste glass have been previously reported, environmental Tc release mechanisms are poorly understood. The recent advances in Tc chemistry that have given rise to an understanding of incorporation in the glass giving rise to significantly higher single-pass retention during vitrification are presented. Additionally, possible changes to the baseline flowsheet that allow for relatively minor volumes of Tc reporting to secondary waste treatment will be discussed. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2015

Case study in corporate memory recovery: Hanford tank farms miscellaneous underground waste storage tanks - 15344

In addition to managing the 177 underground waste storage tanks containing 212,000 m{sup 3} (56 million gal) of radioactive waste at the U. S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site 200 Area Tank Farms, Washington River Protection Solutions LLC is responsible for managing numerous small catch tanks and special surveillance facilities. These are collectively known as 'MUSTs' - Miscellaneous Underground Storage Tanks. The MUSTs typically collected drainage and flushes during waste transfer system piping changes; special surveillance facilities supported Tank Farm processes including post-World War II uranium recovery and later fission product recovery from tank wastes. Most were removed from service following deactivation of the single-shell tank system in 1980 and stabilized by pumping the remaining liquids from them. The MUSTs were isolated by blanking connecting transfer lines and adding weatherproofing to prevent rainwater entry. Over the next 30 years MUST operating records were dispersed into large electronic databases or transferred to the National Archives Regional Center in Seattle, Washington. During 2014 an effort to re-acquire the historical bases for the MUSTs' published waste volumes was undertaken. Corporate Memory Recovery from a variety of record sources allowed waste volumes to be initially determined for 21 MUSTs, and waste volumes to be adjusted for 37 others. Precursors and symptoms of Corporate Memory Loss were identified in the context of MUST records recovery. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2015

Control room consolidation at Hanford tank farms for improved conduct of operation - 15345

Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) manages the underground waste storage tanks at the Hanford site in Washington State on behalf of the DOE Office of River Protection. There are 177 tanks distributed among 18 tank farms spread across an area of desert scrub covering about 20 square miles. A single evaporator facility supports the tanks to provide waste reduction activities. Farms and associated equipment, including exhausters, have been operated locally since installation. Upgrades over time introduced limited automation, but using inconsistent platforms, and providing isolated control locations around the farms. However, as the Tank Farms move from maintenance operations to production operations, with increased numbers of waste transfers and evaporator campaigns, and also prepare for integration with the adjacent Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, then operational improvements were planned and are being implemented. Infrastructure improvement projects included upgrades of control systems to a common platform, and installation of a fiber optic based local area network to the majority of farms, which together provided a distributed control system supporting tank farms. This new infrastructure provided the basis to propose consolidation of control and monitoring operations to a single location. More than a single location, the new Central Control Room was to increase effectiveness of operations by providing full status of all activities being performed across the Tank Farms and the Evaporator. The recent addition of productivity e-tools also would provide capability for management, supervisors and operators to make informed decisions regarding facility operations, through custom online applications designed to provide real time information derived from operational data. For example, tracking turnover activities between shifts, and maintaining compliance with limited conditions for operations. The Central Control Room would also have a single supervisor able to effectively manage the status of all assets and processes. The expected benefits of this arrangement include increased operator utility, increased situational awareness, improved response time for upset conditions, improvement in operator environment, and reductions in operating costs. The projected ROI for the Central Control Room when fully operational was projected to be about two years based on reduced costs from freeing up operations staff to perform other work plus the time and material savings realized by operations being performed with increased situational awareness. So the Central Control Room would become a hub for monitoring and controlling facility operations while responding to real time information affecting productivity and performance, from a centralized location customized to a fresh working environment. Over a 14-month period, WRPS developed the concept and engineering, procured over 500 items, modified and installed in renovated building, and completed transition and testing of this new Central Control Room, turning over the initial phase to Operations for 24/7 use in April 2014. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2015

Managing the interfaces for successful waste treatment operations at the river protection project - 15347

The Department of Energy (DOE) is constructing the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford site in Washington to treat and immobilize(vitrify) approximately 432 million liters (114 million gallons) of high level radioactive waste (after all single-shell retrievals are accomplished). The tank operating contractor (TOC) is charged with delivering feed, with preconditioning if required. Other Hanford contractors are charged with providing utilities and other services and waste disposal facilities. In all, four DOE contractors, two DOE offices along with DOE headquarters, and two Washington state regulators play essential roles in enabling successful treatment operations eliminate the radioactive and hazardous waste threats to the public and the environment. DOE has decided that the appropriate approach is to proceed with operations at the WTP's Low-Activity Waste (LAW) vitrification facility ahead of completing the WTP Pretreatment and High Level Waste (HLW) waste vitrification facilities, This paper outlines the approach that is being taken to ensure that all the functions, reviews, and approvals needed for radioactive operations are achieved to allow successful feed delivery, startup, and operations of the WTP in a direct feed to LAW mode. A massive effort is needed to be successful and a One System organization, jointly managed and staffed by WTP and TOC personnel is tasked with achieving the integration, coordination, tracking, and reporting necessary for the endeavor. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2015

Hanford single-shell tanks leak causes and locations - 15509

Historically 67 assumed and known leaking tanks in the single-shell tank (SST) system were identified at the Hanford Site. The US DOE, Washington River Protection Solutions LLC., and the State of Washington, Department of Ecology identified 25 of the 67 tanks as likely having had liner leaks by a comprehensive review of current and historical data. The remaining tanks are those with potential leaks from sources other than liner failures such as overfilling the tanks or the failure of process lines connecting SSTs. The location of the leaks was determined, based largely on logging radiological data from dry wells installed around the tank and/or radiological data from laterals installed under select tanks. The dry wells and laterals provide the best indication of the vicinity of the leak location, but not necessarily the exact location of the leak. Twenty of the 25 liner leaks appear to have occurred at or near the bottom of the tanks. Many of the tanks appeared to have multiple leak locations. Leak locations could not be determined for all tanks with the available data. Three of the tanks showed apparent sidewall leaks. Potential causes for liner leaks that were evaluated included tank design features, tank construction conditions, waste temperature, tank waste chemistry conducive to different types of corrosion (uniform corrosion, nitrate induced stress corrosion cracking, pitting, crevice, and liquid-air interface corrosion), and bulges in the tank bottom. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2015

Erosion and corrosion analysis of waste transfer components in the POR104 valve box at Hanford - 15715

At the United States Department of Energy Hanford Site in Richland, Washington, waste is being transferred to storage tanks in preparation for treatment at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. Regulatory committees have concerns regarding the structural integrity of the waste transfer components being used. Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) has employed a Fitness-for-Service program, which is a multi-disciplinary engineering approach that is used to determine if equipment is fit to remain in operation for a specified projected period. An approach to monitor aging equipment is to take thickness measurements of components when feasible, to evaluate if there is any appreciable degradation in the integrity of the components. The thickness measurements can be used to determine if erosion or corrosion is occurring and predict the remaining lifespan of the components. These predictions can also be used to develop design modifications for new piping and pipe jumpers. Analysis of thickness measurements have been conducted on four floor nozzles in the POR104 valve box located in the C-Tank Farm at Hanford. The data for the floor nozzles of the valve box does not show signs of wear, but there are variations in thicknesses which are likely due to manufacturing processes. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2016

Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, a Leader in the International Glass Community - 16003

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of River Protection (ORP) is constructing the Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) [1] to treat radioactive waste currently stored in underground tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington State. The WTP that is being designed to separate the tank waste into high-level waste (HLW) and low-activity waste (LAW) fractions with the majority of the mass (approximately 90 percent) directed to LAW and most of the activity (greater than 95 percent) directed to HLW. The pretreatment process, envisioned in the baseline, involves the dissolution of aluminum bearing solids to allow the aluminum salts to be processed through the cesium ion exchange and report to the LAW Facility. There is an oxidative leaching process to affect a similar outcome for chromium-bearing wastes. These two unit operations were advanced to accommodate shortcomings in glass formulation for HLW inventories. A significant consideration to the most recent revision of the glass models is the extensive collaboration developed, funded, managed, and coordinated from the ORP. The current effort includes researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Savannah River National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Catholic University of America, Washington State University, Rutgers University, Institute of Chemical Technology Prague, University of Ottawa, Tokyo Institute of Technology, The University of Adelaide, and University of Sheffield. Independent technical evaluation having been solicited from faculty of Alfred University and Vanderbilt University. These advances in glass chemistry generate a need to revisit the feed vectors, flowsheet, and the unit operations driven by minimal waste loading requirements set forth in the contract for the design and construction of the plant. The current status and plans for the immediate future of glass chemistry are the subject of the primary concern to successfully completing our clean-up mission at Hanford. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2016

The Success of the River Corridor Closure Project - A Look at the Last 10 Years - 16105

Washington Closure Hanford (WCH) was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL) to manage the River Corridor Closure Project (RCCP), a 10-year contract in which WCH will clean up 572 km{sup 2} (220 mi{sup 2}) of contaminated land at the Hanford Site in Richland, Washington. Since 2005, WCH has safely and efficiently performed field remediation and building demolition activities along the Columbia River corridor. To date, 99% of the buildings have been demolished and field remediation is 88% complete. These numbers represent work on 323 buildings and 571 waste sites, respectively. From a safety perspective, WCH has experienced an outstanding safety record with a total of 230 first aid cases, 47 recordable only cases, 2 restricted work day cases, and 7 lost work day cases. WCH exceeded 6 million hours worked without a lost time injury on September 30, 2015, for the second time in the contract period. The project has worked a total of 23,217,840 hours. WCH has experienced extensive successes over the last 10 years. These successes include, but are not limited to, explosive demolition, technological applications, and creative land restoration techniques. Efficiencies in work planning, execution, and subcontracting will also be shared. The photographs showing how the landscape has changed are impressive, as is some of the video captured during explosive demolition of a reactor stack in the 100-N Area of the Hanford Site. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2016

Inspection Technology Advancements for Hanford Double Shell Tank Integrity Verification - 16150

The Hanford double-shell tanks (DSTs) were constructed in southeastern Washington State between 1968 and 1986 to store nuclear waste. Most of the tank waste came from the Hanford nuclear weapons program, which has been stopped for more than 25 years. The tanks will be needed for many years to come until suitable vitrification and permanent storage solutions are developed. These tanks are nominally 45 ft. deep from the dome peak to the floor. The inner tank is nominally 75 ft. dia. and the outer tank is nominally 80 ft. dia., leaving a 2.5 ft. annulus between the two side tank walls. The waste management program (under direction of Washington River Protection Solutions, WRPS) manages inspections of these DSTs from the annulus to justify their continued safe service and to avoid the high cost of new replacement tanks. Over time, the Hanford Tank Farm contractors, currently WRPS, have increased their ultrasound inspections of these tanks. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has worked with the Hanford Tank Farm contractors for more than 15 years to advance applicable tank nondestructive inspection technology for improved performance and cost reduction. Past, present, and planned technology advancements are addressed in this paper, including tank wall ultrasonic testing examination, extreme value statistical analysis, phased array for the tank wall, transmit/receive tandem synthetic aperture focusing technique knuckle examination, and electromagnetic acoustic transducer screening of the tank wall including mill-scale compensation. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2016

Waste Management 2016 300-296 Soil Remediation Project. Developing Innovative Solutions to Overcome Design Challenges - 16229

The 324 Building is a non-reactor, Hazard Category 2, Nuclear Facility located in the 300 Area of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hanford Site, located near Richland, Washington. The building is undergoing deactivation, decommissioning, decontamination, and demolition by Washington Closure Hanford (WCH) under the River Corridor Closure Contract. During the Cold War Era, the facility was used for chemical and radionuclide processing associated with nuclear weapons production. Historical records indicate that in October 1986, approximately 516 L of a concentrated liquid waste stream containing cesium-137 and strontium-90 was spilled onto the floor of B-Cell. B-Cell is located in the Radiochemical Engineering Complex (REC) of the 324 Building. It is estimated that this spill contained approximately 1.3 million curies of radioactivity. Some fraction of the spill was recovered; however, an unknown quantity was released into the soil beneath the 324 Building through an undetected breach in the B-Cell floor sump. Unknown quantities of water were used after the spill to wash items contained in B-Cell. When B-Cell was taken out of service, wastes being removed from B-Cell were placed in Grout Containers (GCs) and stabilized using a particulate grout. In the course of grouting activities, grout was spilled on the floor of B-Cell, eventually filling the sump. The primary scope of this project is to design, test, and implement a process capable of removing and isolating contaminated soil below B-Cell. This remediation effort has been divided into two removal zones identified as the primary and secondary removal zones. Based on current assumptions and estimates, the primary phase of this cleanup effort will remove roughly 156.45 m{sup 3} of highly contaminated materials. B-Cell debris, particulate grout, and the floor slab and liner comprise about 21.24 m{sup 3} of the total. The remaining 135.21 m3 will be contaminated soil. All of this material must be disposed of within the existing 324 Facility or packaged for disposal at the Hanford site. The objective of this project is to remove the B-Cell floor and highly contaminated underlying soils from beneath B-Cell using remote equipment to reduce the radiation levels and allow open-air excavation for the remaining contaminated soil. The challenges and subsequent technological solutions encountered from the Conceptual Design phase to the 100% Design Issued For Fabrication/Issued For Construction (IFF/IFC) consisted in part of the following: Design an efficient remote cleanup strategy for highly contaminated Low Level Waste (LLW) given the unknowns. Maintain contamination control down to 18 feet below B-Cell in a highly radioactive environment (12,870 R/Hr Cs-137 and Sr-90). Perform facility upgrades to enable remediation process implementation while maintaining integrity of pre-existing facility structure and license. Designing first-of-a-kind remote equipment for use in high radiation areas. Developing first-of-a-kind operations sequences for remote equipment while minimizing usage of original facility equipment (i.e. cranes, manipulators, etc.). Conducting time-motion studies of operations sequences to maximize efficiency while keeping dose As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) in a high dose environment. Construction of a full scale mockup to conduct performance testing in a clean environment and train the work force to operate the equipment. Overcoming scope, budget and schedule constraints associated with a fast-track DOE project. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2016

Developing a Remediation Strategy for Hanford's Central Plateau Long-term Waste Management Area - 16545

The cleanup of the Hanford site, a Department of Energy (DOE) facility in eastern Washington state, has been underway for over two decades. Cleanup of the river corridor, a portion of the site adjacent to the Columbia River, has been one of Hanford's top priorities since the early 1990s and the majority of waste sites within this area have been remediated, and associated groundwater contamination has been, or is in the process of being remediated. As cleanup of the river corridor has progressed, attention has begun to shift towards addressing the waste sites located within the 'Inner Area', a 26 Km{sup 2} (10 mi{sup 2}) area within centrally located within the site where the majority of the site's burial grounds and landfills are located. In recognition of the differences in expected future land use between the river corridor and the Inner Area, the DOE, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) developed a set of Inner Area cleanup principles to: 1) promote consistency in site assessments and alternative evaluations; and 2) support regulatory strategies that will optimize analytical resources and streamline documentation. This paper provides an overview of the Inner Area cleanup principles, how their application is expected to influence the development of remedial investigations and feasibility studies, and ultimately the selection of risk-informed decisions. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2019

Development of a Trace Detection Method for Mercury Speciation in Hanford Tank Waste - 19014

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site in southeast Washington State stores 56 million gallons of chemical and radioactive waste stored in underground tanks. Mercury species in liquid and solid fractions of Hanford tank waste pose a risk to the implementation and execution of DoE's River Protection Project mission due to mercury concentration limits imposed under waste acceptance criteria, toxicity characteristic leaching procedure restrictions for secondary waste disposal, and air emission permits. Although there is currently no processing of tank waste at Hanford, waste processing is imminent, and representative mercury inventory tracking will be important to anticipate and mitigate stack emissions and secondary liquid waste disposal issues. A methodology to accurately determine total mercury and mercury speciation in Hanford tank waste, while maintaining low mercury detection limits, currently does not exist at Hanford. Moreover, the mercury species in the waste solids are unknown and may be waste type-specific. The development of an analytical method to separate and speciate mercury in tank waste was undertaken by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) while leveraging an existing non-radiological, ultra-trace mercury detection technique frequently performed at PNNL's Marine Sciences Laboratory in Sequim, Washington. The ultimate goal of this work is to develop an analytical method to obtain detailed mercury speciation information and update flowsheet modeling assumptions related to mercury partitioning at Hanford. The first phase of testing was completed in the development of an analytical methodology for the low-level determination of total mercury, elemental mercury, methylmercury, and dimethylmercury in Hanford tank waste. This paper presents Phase I testing which focused on determining whether mercury species can be preconcentrated from aqueous Hanford tank waste solution onto a solid substrate, while simultaneously eliminating or very significantly reducing the parent radionuclide activity. This was demonstrated by developing protocols for the separation and preconcentration of total mercury and methylmercury onto solid substrates, then measuring the substrates for radiological content at PNNL's Radiochemical Processing Laboratory on the Hanford Site. The mercury content was successfully separated onto stable substrates and the radionuclide activity reduction was significant enough that the preconcentrated samples could be subjected to quantification using far less restrictive handling and radiological controls than would be required for the parent sample (i.e., contamination area fume hood vs. hot cell). This mercury separation method required no sample dilution, which enables maximum mercury detectability, while still allowing mercury speciation. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2020

The Intern Professional Development Center: A Model for Improving Student Engagement Within Industry - 20006

Many innovations and technical improvements have been made over the last half-century regarding our understanding of nuclear materials, with some of the brightest minds in the world collectively working towards a cleaner, brighter, healthier future. However, there is a demographical oddity with the enormous technical workforce that helped shape this new world: they are aging, collectively. Known as the 'silver tsunami,' mass retirements are in the near future for many technical industries, something that the industrial community is not entirely prepared to accommodate. There is an urgent need for a tech-savvy generation to replace the baby boomers, and there must be an uninterrupted hand-off from one generation to the next of institutional knowledge and best practices. Further, it is not enough to simply replace every retiring engineer with a younger one in a 'cold hand-off' - this information transfer takes time. Many educational communities, such as those in the Tri-Cities, Washington, are rising to the challenge, with STEM-focused programs, introducing students to technical concepts and potential career opportunities at an early age. However, while individually, academic institutions search for internships and industry has open positions for interested students, no single clearinghouse exists in the Mid-Columbia region to match talent with opportunities, regardless of the sending or receiving organizations. To fill this void, AYB Drafting (AYB) has established a career development and personal growth center, the Intern Professional Development Center (IPDC). The IPDC, located in Richland, Washington, addresses the problem of what has been referred to as the 'Graying of America,' as it bridges the gap between education and career for the up and coming workforce, creating valuable efficiencies for the young workforce and the industry alike. The operating principles and details of the initial IPDC launch are discussed in the following text, as well as the apparent success and overwhelming positive feedback received in just the first year of operation. (authors)

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Mercury Speciation of Hanford 241-AP-107 Tank Waste Samples - 20384

The concentration of key mercury species in the Hanford tank waste has not been previously measured. Based on process knowledge, an estimated inventory of 2,100 kg of mercury is assumed and was distributed in varied amounts across 149 single-shell tanks (SSTs) and 28 double-shell tanks (DSTs). Limited analyses of individual SSTs and DSTs for total mercury were all below detection, yielding upper limits in concentration estimates based solely on instrument detection limits, resulting in an uncertain mercury inventory for Hanford tanks. Accurate and reliable chemical speciation and quantification is desired to anticipate, predict, and abate the mass movements of various mercury species through the Hanford waste processing flowsheet. Highly sensitive separation and quantification methods for total, elemental, and monomethyl mercury species, in tank waste, have been developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (PNNL) Radiochemical Processing Laboratory (RPL). A non-radiological environmental method to quantify mercury species has been adapted for application to Hanford tank 241-AP-107 raw supernatant feed, filtered feed, and cesium-decontaminated samples. These samples represent feed inventory and pretreatment process effluents prior to immobilization by vitrification. This method separates and preconcentrates total, elemental, and monomethyl mercury onto selective solid substrates with little-to-no radioactive background. The solid samples can then be released from strict radiological control, allowing for analytical work to be conducted in low-level radiological facilities. Separation of mercury species was demonstrated at PNNL's RPL in Richland, Washington before transport and analytical quantification using cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CVAFS) at PNNL's Marine Science Laboratory (MSL) in Sequim, Washington. Additional studies were conducted to assess the stability of monomethyl mercury in distilled matrices and preconcentrated onto the Carbotrap{sup R} solid substrate to assess sample degradation over time during transport. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2020

Hanford Immobilized Low-Activity Waste Transportation System Testing Results - 20043

The immobilized low-activity waste (ILAW) transportation system is a first-of-a-kind system that is being designed and tested to transport ILAW glass-filled containers from Hanford's Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Low-Activity Waste (LAW) Facility to the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) burial trench for permanent disposal. A prototype design and fabrication of one transport trailer and four engineered ILAW pallets was completed in mid-2018. Prototype qualification testing to verify adequacy of the design was completed in 2019 by Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) and affiliate ATKINS SNC-Lavalin Group. Prototype testing was completed to advance design maturation across all operational and facility interfaces, and under adverse environmental and operating conditions, including thermal assessment of the system at peak projected temperatures. Test design, observation, and feedback was well represented and supported by all ILAW Transportation System interfacing organizations: WTP constructor Bechtel National, Inc.; IDF operator CH2M (CHPRC); transportation contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA); the U. S. Department of Energy Richland Operations Office (DOE/RL) and Office of River Protection (DOE/ORP); and Washington State Department of Ecology. This paper presents the results of prototype qualification testing and opportunities for design improvements based on testing. Changes to the final design as a result of prototype testing include improvements in safety, ergonomics, operational flexibility, and As-Low-As-Reasonably-Achievable (ALARA) applications. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2022

Panel discussion: Challenges and improvements in accident dose analysis; Regulatory and industry perspective

Full text of publication follows. Design basis accident (DBA) analyses are one of several ways nuclear power plant licensees demonstrate, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff verifies, that the design and location of a nuclear power plant are appropriate and that the protection of health and safety of the public is maintained. In July 2000, the NRC staff issued Regulatory Guide 1.183, 'Alternative Radiological Source Terms for Evaluating Design Basis Accidents at Nuclear Power Reactors' (RG 1.183) [1]. RG 1.183 provides a method acceptable to the NRC staff for complying with the regulatory requirements contained in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulation (10 CFR) Section 50.67 (50.67), 'Accident source term' [2]. RG 1.183 also provides assumptions and parameters used to model postulated DBA radiological analyses for light-water reactors (LWR). Since the initial issuance of RG 1.183, the NRC staff and the nuclear power plant licensees have both gained substantial experience with the implementation of 10 CFR 50.67 and RG 1.183. Based on this experience, comments from licensees, the anticipation of licensing advanced LWRs, and new research, the NRC is developing a proposed revision to RG 1.183. This panel discussion will provide a discussion of that proposed revision, its potential impact on existing and future evaluations, and the industry perspective on the revised guidance. References: 1) USNRC, Regulatory Guide 1.183, 'Alternative Radiological Source Terms for Evaluating Design Basis Accidents at Nuclear Power Reactors,' Revision 0, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. (2000), Electronic copies are also available in ADAMS (http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html), under Accession No. ML003716792. 2) U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10 (Energy), Part 50 (Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities), Section 67, (Accident source term), Office of the Federal Register, Washington, DC (1999). (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗