High-level Waste Processing at the Savannah River Site

High-level Waste Processing at the Savannah River Site
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 18
Release: 1997
Genre:
ISBN:

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The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, SC mg began immobilizing high-level radioactive waste in borosilicate glass in 1996. Currently, the radioactive glass is being produced as a ''sludge-only'' composition by combining washed high-level waste sludge with glass frit. The glass is poured in stainless steel canisters which will eventually be disposed of in a permanent, geological repository. To date, DWPF has produced about 100 canisters of vitrified waste. Future processing operations will, be based on a ''coupled'' feed of washed high-level waste sludge, precipitated cesium, and glass frit. This paper provides an update of the processing activities completed to date, operational/flowsheet problems encountered, and programs underway to increase production rates.

Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah River Site

Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah River Site
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2000-10-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 030917158X

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The Second World War introduced the world to nuclear weapons and their consequences. Behind the scene of these nuclear weapons and an aspect of their consequences is radioactive waste. Radioactive waste has varying degrees of harmfulness and poses a problem when it comes to storage and disposal. Radioactive waste is usually kept below ground in varying containers, which depend on how radioactive the waste it. High-level radioactive waste (HLW) can be stored in underground carbon-steel tanks. However, radioactive waste must also be further immobilized to ensure our safety. There are several sites in the United States where high-level radioactive waste (HLW) are stored; including the Savannah River Site (SRS), established in 1950 to produce plutonium and tritium isotopes for defense purposes. In order to further immobilize the radioactive waste at this site an in-tank precipitation (ITP) process is utilized. Through this method, the sludge portion of the tank wastes is being removed and immobilized in borosilicate glass for eventual disposal in a geological repository. As a result, a highly alkaline salt, present in both liquid and solid forms, is produced. The salt contains cesium, strontium, actinides such as plutonium and neptunium, and other radionuclides. But is this the best method? The National Research Council (NRC) has empanelled a committee, at the request of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), to provide an independent technical review of alternatives to the discontinued in-tank precipitation (ITP) process for treating the HLW stored in tanks at the SRS. Alternatives for High-Level Waste Salt Processing at the Savannah RIver Site summarizes the finding of the committee which sought to answer 4 questions including: "Was an appropriately comprehensive set of cesium partitioning alternatives identified and are there other alternatives that should be explored?" and "Are there significant barriers to the implementation of any of the preferred alternatives, taking into account their state of development and their ability to be integrated into the existing SRS HLW system?"

Tank Wastes Planned for On-Site Disposal at Three Department of Energy Sites

Tank Wastes Planned for On-Site Disposal at Three Department of Energy Sites
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 88
Release: 2005-09-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309096936

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In response to a request from Congress, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) asked the National Academies to evaluate its plans for managing radioactive wastes from spent nuclear fuel at sites in Idaho, South Carolina, and Washington. This interim report evaluates storage facilities at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, with a particular focus on plans to seal the tanks with grouting. The report finds that tanks at the site do not necessarily need to be sealed shut as soon as the bulk of the waste has been removed. Postponing permanent closure buys more time for the development and application of emerging technologies to remove and better immobilize residual waste, without increasing risks to the environment or delaying final closure of the "tank farms." The report also recommends alternatives to address the lack of tank space at the site, as well as the need for focused R&D activities to reduce the amount and improve the immobilization of residual waste in the tanks and to test some of the assumptions used in evaulating long-term risks at the site.

Research and Development on a Salt Processing Alternative for High-Level Waste at the Savannah River Site

Research and Development on a Salt Processing Alternative for High-Level Waste at the Savannah River Site
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2001-09-03
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309075939

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is nearing a decision on how to process 30 million gallons of high-level radioactive waste salt solutions at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina to remove strontium, actinides, and cesium for immobilization in glass and eventual shipment to a geologic repository. The department is sponsoring research and development (R&D) work on four alternative processes and plans to use the results to make a downselection decision in a June 2001 time frame. The DOE requested that the National Research Council help inform this decision by addressing the following charge: evaluate the adequacy of the criteria that will be used by the department to select from among the candidate processes under consideration; evaluate the progress and results of the research and development work that is being undertaken on these candidate processes; and assess whether the technical uncertainties have been sufficiently resolved to proceed with downsizing the list of candidate processes. Responses to the last two points are provided in this report. Research and Development on a Salt Processing Alternative for High-Level Waste at the Savannah River Site focuses exclusively on the technical issues related to the candidate processes for radionuclide removal from high-level waste salt solutions at SRS. The committee's interim report served as a response to the first point of this charge, and may be read in Appendix B. In that report, the committee found that DOE's proposed criteria are an acceptable basis for selecting among the candidate processes under consideration, but that the criteria should not be implemented in a way that relies on a single numerical "total score."

Progress in Resolving Savannah River Site High-level Waste Tank Safety Issues

Progress in Resolving Savannah River Site High-level Waste Tank Safety Issues
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 11
Release: 1993
Genre:
ISBN:

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At the Savannah River Site (SRS), near Aiken, South Carolina, approximately 35 million gallons of high-level radioactive waste are stored in 51 underground, carbon steel waste tanks. These tanks and associated facilities are distributed between the F and H areas, two processing areas at SRS, and are called the F- and H-area high-level waste tank farms. Within the last few years, issues have been raised about the safety of high-level waste tank farms throughout the DOE complex, including those at SRS. Plans for resolution of these issues were reported at the Waste Management 192 conference. This paper addresses progress made at SRS since 1992. Most of the efforts for resolving the six safety issues identified at SRS have concentrated on (1) preparing the tanks for waste removal and (2) completing construction, testing, and starting up three key facilities. These facilities will transform the waste into forms suitable for final disposal, specifically borosilicate glass and saltstone (grout). Removing the waste from the tanks and processing it is needed to resolve three of the safety issues. Two facilities -- In-Tank Precipitation and the Defense Waste Processing Facility -- are undergoing non-radioactive simulant testing (''cold runs'') at this time. The third facility -- Sludge Processing -- began testing with actual waste in October 1993. In Tank Precipitation is scheduled to be operating by the end of 1994.