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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

DEPLOYMENT OF THE BULK TRITIUM SHIPPING PACKAGE

A new Bulk Tritium Shipping Package (BTSP) was designed by the Savannah River National Laboratory to be a replacement for a package that has been used to ship tritium in a variety of content configurations and forms since the early 1970s. The BTSP was certified by the National Nuclear Safety Administration in 2011 for shipments of up to 150 grams of Tritium. Thirty packages were procured and are being delivered to various DOE sites for operational use. This paper summarizes the design features of the BTSP, as well as associated engineered material improvements. Fabrication challenges encountered during production are discussed as well as fielding requirements. Current approved tritium content forms (gas and tritium hydrides), are reviewed, as well as, a new content, tritium contaminated water on molecular sieves. Issues associated with gas generation will also be discussed.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2013

IN-LINE CHEMICAL SENSOR DEPLOYMENT IN A TRITIUM PLANT

The Savannah River Tritium Plant (TP) relies on well understood but aging sensor technology for process gas analysis. Though new sensor technologies have been brought to various readiness levels, the TP has been reluctant to install technologies that have not been tested in tritium service. This gap between sensor technology development and incorporating new technologies into practical applications demonstrates fundamental challenges that exist when transitioning from status quo to state-of-the-art in an extreme environment such as a tritium plant. These challenges stem from three root obstacles: 1) The need for a comprehensive assessment of process sensing needs and requirements; 2) The lack of a pick-list of process-compatible sensor technologies; and 3) The need to test technologies in a tritium-contaminated process environment without risking production. At Savannah River, these issues are being addressed in a two phase project. In the first phase, TP sensing requirements were determined by a team of process experts. Meanwhile, Savannah River National Laboratory sensor experts identified candidate technologies and related them to the TP processing requirements. The resulting roadmap links the candidate technologies to actual plant needs. To provide accurate assessments of how a candidate sensor technology would perform in a contaminated process environment, an instrument demonstration station was established within a TP glove box. This station was fabricated to TP process requirements and designed to handle high activity samples. The combination of roadmap and demonstration station provides the following assets: Creates a partnership between the process engineers and researchers for sensor selection, maturation, and insertion, Selects the right sensors for process conditions Provides a means for safely inserting new sensor technology into the process without risking production, and Provides a means to evaluate off normal occurrences where and when they occur. This paper discusses the process to identify and demonstrate new sensor technologies for the Savannah River TP.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Development and Deployment of the Extended Reach Sluicing System (ERSS) for Retrieval of Hanford Single Shell Tank Waste. Draft

A history of the evolution and the design development of Extended Reach Sluicer System (ERSS) is presented. Several challenges are described that had to be overcome to create a machine that went beyond the capabilities of prior generation sluicers to mobilize waste in Single Shell Tanks for pumping into Double Shell Tank receiver tanks. Off-the-shelf technology and traditional hydraulic fluid power systems were combined with the custom-engineered components to create the additional functionality of the ERSS, while still enabling it to fit within very tight entry envelope into the SST. Problems and challenges inevitably were encountered and overcome in ways that enhance the state of the art of fluid power applications in such constrained environments. Future enhancements to the ERSS design are explored for retrieval of tanks with different dimensions and internal obstacles.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2014

Wind Energy Deployment in Isolated Islanded Power Systems: Challenges & Realities (Poster)

Rising costs of fuels, energy surety, and the carbon impacts of diesel fuel are driving remote and islanded communities dependent on diesel power generation to look for alternatives. Over the past few years, interest in using wind energy to reduce diesel fuel consumption has increased dramatically, potentially providing economic, environmental, social, and security benefits to the energy supply of isolated and islanded communities. However, the task of implementing such systems has remained elusive and subject to many cases of lower-than-expected performance. This poster describes the current status of integrating higher contribution wind technology into islanded power systems, the progress of recent initiatives implemented by the U.S. Department of Energy and Interior, and some of the lingering technical and commercial challenges. Operating experience from a number of power systems is described. The worldwide market for wind development in islanded communities (some of these supplying large domestic loads) provides a strong market niche for the wind industry, even in the midst of a slow global recovery.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

The Next Step in Deployment of Computer Based Procedures For Field Workers: Insights And Results From Field Evaluations at Nuclear Power Plants

The paper-based procedures currently used for nearly all activities in the commercial nuclear power industry have a long history of ensuring safe operation of the plants. However, there is potential to greatly increase efficiency and safety by improving how the human operator interacts with the procedures. One way to achieve these improvements is through the use of computer-based procedures (CBPs). A CBP system offers a vast variety of improvements, such as context driven job aids, integrated human performance tools (e.g., placekeeping, correct component verification, etc.), and dynamic step presentation. The latter means that the CBP system could only display relevant steps based on operating mode, plant status, and the task at hand. A dynamic presentation of the procedure (also known as context-sensitive procedures) will guide the operator down the path of relevant steps based on the current conditions. This feature will reduce the operator’s workload and inherently reduce the risk of incorrectly marking a step as not applicable and the risk of incorrectly performing a step that should be marked as not applicable. The research team at the Idaho National Laboratory has developed a prototype CBP system for field workers, which has been evaluated from a human factors and usability perspective in four laboratory studies. Based on the results from each study revisions were made to the CBP system. However, a crucial step to get the end users' (e.g., auxiliary operators, maintenance technicians, etc.) acceptance is to put the system in their hands and let them use it as a part of their everyday work activities. In the spring 2014 the first field evaluation of the INL CBP system was conducted at a nuclear power plant. Auxiliary operators conduct a functional test of one out of three backup air compressors each week. During the field evaluation activity, one auxiliary operator conducted the test with the paper-based procedure while a second auxiliary operator followed along with the computer-based procedure. After each conducted functional test the operators were asked a series of questions designed to provide feedback on the feasibility to use a CBP system in the plant and the general user experience of the CBP system. This paper will describe the field evaluation and its results in detail. For example, the result shows that the context driven job aids and the incorporated human performance tools are much liked by the auxiliary operators. The paper will describe and present initial findings from a second field evaluation conducted at second nuclear utility. For this field evaluation a preventive maintenance work order for the HVAC system was used. In addition, there will be a description of the method and objective of two field evaluations planned to be conducted late 2014 or early 2015.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗