scholarly journals High Level Waste Tank Farm Replacement Project for the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Environmental Assessment

1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
1987 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roseanne S. Baker ◽  
Bruce A. Staples ◽  
Dieter A. Knecht ◽  
Julius R. Berreth

AbstractCandidate products are being evaluated to immobilize the routinely calcined waste at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP). A potential product with minimal volume for immobilizing ICPP high-level waste (HLW) for final disposal is a high-waste-loading and high-density glass-ceramic. Glass-ceramics are formed by Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIPing) the HLW with selected additives, such as SiO2, B2O3, Li2O, Na2O, and Y2O3. Glass-ceramic products have been formed with calcine loa ings up to 80 wt% and densities up to 3.4 g/cm3. Crystalline phases observed in the glass-ceramic products include calcium fluoride, monoclinic and cubic zirconia, calcium- and yttrium-stabilized zirconia, and zircon. An interstitial amorphous phase also exists consisting of the oxides of silicon, aluminum, boron, and alkalis. The glass-ceramic waste forms give leach rates comparable to simulated HLW glass products.


1996 ◽  
Vol 465 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. P. O'Holleran ◽  
S. G. Johnson ◽  
S. M. Frank ◽  
M. K. Meyer ◽  
M. Noy ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTResults are reported on several new glass and glass-ceramic waste formulations for plutonium disposition. The approach proposed involves employing existing calcined high level waste (HLW) present at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) as an additive to: 1) aid in the formation of a durable waste form and 2) decrease the attractiveness level of the plutonium from a proliferation viewpoint. The plutonium, PuO2, loadings employed were 15 wt% (glass) and 17 wt% (glass-ceramic). Results in the form of x-ray diffraction patterns, microstructure and durability tests are presented on cerium surrogate and plutonium loaded waste forms using simulated calcined HLW and demonstrate that durable phases, zirconia and zirconolite, contain essentially all the plutonium.


1995 ◽  
Vol 412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishna Vinjamuri

AbstractCurrently, at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) there are about 6800 m3 of liquid sodium-bearing and liquid high-level wastes (HLW), and 3800 m3 of solid calcined HLW. One of the waste processing options under consideration includes separation of the HLW into high activity and low activity (LAW) wastes, followed by immobilization. Preliminary glasses were synthesized for the sodium-bearing, alumina-bearing, and the zirconia-bearing LAW fractions after radionuclide separations. The glasses were formed by crucible melting of a mixture of reagent chemicals representative of the LAW waste streams and frit additives at 1200 °C for 5 hours, followed by overnight annealing at 550 °C and furnace cooling of the melt. These glasses were characterized for density, elastic property, viscosity, chemical durability, structural parameters, and glass phase separation. The results are compared with that of the Hanford's standard glass ARM-i, Savannah River's benchmark glass EA, and the ICPP's grout waste form prepared using the simulated non-radioactive sodium-bearing waste fraction.


1991 ◽  
Vol 257 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. F. Agnew ◽  
S. W. Eisenhawer ◽  
R. F. Davidson ◽  
L. H. Sullivan

ABSTRACTOver the past few years, there has been an increased awareness of the potential hazard of energetic chemical reactions in high-level radioactive waste tanks at the Hanford tank farm. In particular, a mixture of Na2NiFe(CN)6 with NaNO3 and NaNO2 in several high-level waste tanks has caused concern. The problem of the FeCN tanks is fundamentally one of a potentially unstable mixture of fuel (the CN- moiety) and oxidizer (NO3- or NO2-).At Los Alamos National Laboratory, we have performed an extensive reanalysis of the safety problems associated with the presence of Na2NiFe(CN)6 mixed with NaNO3/NO2 for a particular tank (104-BY) that contains by far the largest amount of the nickel ferrocyanide salt (∼2E5 mol). Our approach is to use conservative assumptions to bound both the energy density for a potential runaway reaction and the mass that could participate if we assume ignition as the result of bounding radionuclide concentrations. The subsequent progress of the accident is analyzed using an advanced hydrodynamics computer code called MESA to evaluate the loads on the structure and the generation of aerosols. The subsequent doses are shown to be low both on and off the site. The conservatism in the analysis is quite large, and the expected results using more realistic assumptions are discussed.


1983 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan B. Harker ◽  
John F. Flintoff

ABSTRACTPolyphase ceramic and glass-ceramic forms have been consolidated from simulated Idaho Chemical Processing Plant wastes by hot isostatic pressing calcined waste and chemical additives at 1000°C or less. The ceramic forms can contain over 70 wt% waste with densities ranging from 3.5 to 3.85 g/cm3, depending upon the formulation. Major phases are CaF2, CaZrTi2O7, CaTiO3, monoclinic ZrO2, and amorphous intergranular material. The relative fraction of the phases is a function of the chemical additives (TiO2, CaO, and Si02) and consolidation temperature. Zirconolite, the major actinide host, makes the ceramic forms extremely leach resistant for the actinide simulant U238. The amorphous phase controls the leach performance for Sr and Cs which is improved by the addition of SiO2. Glass-ceramic forms were also consolidated by HIP at waste loadings of 30 to 70 wt% with densities of 2.73 to 3.1 g/cm3 using Exxon 127 borosilicate glass frit. The glass-ceramic forms contain crystalline CaF2, Al2O3, and ZrSiO4 (zircon) in a glass matrix. Natural mineral zircon is a stable host for 4+ valent actinides.


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