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DOE OSTI2019

Efficient Removal of Metolachlor and Bacterial Community of Biofilm in Bioelectrochemical Reactors

The microbial fuel cell (MFC) provides an inexhaustible electron acceptor to generate current and enhance the degradation of organic compounds. In MFCs with metolachlor as the sole carbon source, the degradation efficiency accelerated by 98%, with 61–76% of enhancement for the degradates, ethane sulfonic acid and oxanilic acid, respectively. According to quantifying primary metabolites of deschloro and metolachlor-2-hydroxyas, dechlorination and alcoholization were deemed as antecedent steps of metolachlor bioelectrochemical degradation. The energy recovery was infeasible by sole addition of metolachlor (at 13 ± 4 °C from equivalent weight of 0.224 mg). In MFCs with metolachlor and sodium acetate as the concomitant carbon sources, the electricity generation recovered to a level comparable to the controls, instead of increasing the removal efficiency of metolachlor. These results suggest that a low-efficiently direct electron transfer occurred between electricigens and metolachlor degraders. The Illumina sequencing showed that species of Paracoccus and Aquamicrobium played a potential degradation effect, while Comamonas sp. replaced Geobacter sp. as the predominant electricigen after addition of metolachlor. This study demonstrates that MFCs could be used as a promising alternative for treatment of chloroacetanilide herbicide contaminated wastewaters by means of a rapidly established active bacterial community. .

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2012

2011 Groundwater Monitoring Report Project Shoal Area Subsurface Corrective Action Unit 447

This report presents the 2011 groundwater monitoring results collected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) at the Project Shoal Area (PSA) Subsurface Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 447 in Churchill County, Nevada. Responsibility for the environmental site restoration of the PSA was transferred from the DOE Office of Environmental Management to LM on October 1, 2006. The environmental restoration process and corrective action strategy for CAU 447 are conducted in accordance with the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) (FFACO 1996, as amended) and all applicable Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) policies and regulations. The corrective action strategy for the site includes monitoring in support of future site closure. This report summarizes the results from the groundwater monitoring program during fiscal year 2011.

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DOE OSTI2022

Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations to Predict Oxidation in Heat Recovery Steam Generator Tubes

Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSGs) are widely used across United States in combined cycle power plants to recover waste heat from the gas turbine (GT). HRSGs are used either to generate electricity or to produce process steam for industrial applications. The primary components of HRSG consists of a duct and a heat exchanger (HX). It is known across the power industry that the high temperature oxidation and ensuing exfoliation problem is a major cause for the damage of HX materials of HRSG. Alloys and/or coatings that can prevent or mitigate oxidation are very expensive, therefore they must be used or applied on the select regions of the HX tubes where the tendency of oxide formation is the highest. The main goal of this project is to identify such regions through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. Therefore, in this work, we developed a CFD framework using commercial code StarCCM+ for the prediction of the fluid flow and heat transfer in a HRSG and associated oxidation inside the tubes of the HX. The developed CFD framework was verified and validated with experimental data before deployment. We also developed an innovative method to model the effect of the fins on the heat transfer and the pressure drop using a porous media model (PMM) approach to keep the mesh size within reasonable limits. After validation, we performed high-fidelity CFD simulations of a real-scale HRSG using the PMM, with High Performance Computing (HPC) resources of ORNL. From the simulation results, we acquired oxide thickness maps for all the tubes of the select HX sections of HRSG prone to oxidation. These oxide maps can inform regions of the HX tubes that requires oxide-resistant coatings, thereby guiding engineers for cost-efficient manufacturing of the HX that can combat oxidation in HRSGs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2025

Multi-species electrolyte migration kinetics with directed flow

Here, this paper investigates an electrochemical process designed to control mixing kinetics in liquid electrolytes. The process utilizes an electrochemical cell with anode and cathode chambers connected by a channel without a membrane. This configuration depletes multiple electroactive species in the cathode chamber while selectively replenishing them in the anode chamber. A key application is the removal of impurity species from the cathode chamber electrolyte and the selective replenishment of primary electroactive species in the anode chamber. Aqueous cell experiments were conducted to validate the theoretical model, and simulations were performed for molten salt electrolytes. This approach minimizes waste by reducing the need for additional electrolyte supplies and extends the utilization of anion species, contributing to environmentally sustainable electrochemical materials processing.

Electrochemical Process↗

NASA NTRS2001

Relative effectiveness of HZE iron-56 particles for the induction of cytogenetic damage in vivo

One of the risks of prolonged manned space flight is the exposure of astronauts to radiation from galactic cosmic rays, which contain heavy ions such as (56)Fe. To study the effects of such exposures, experiments were conducted at the Brookhaven National Laboratory by exposing Wistar rats to high-mass, high-Z, high-energy (HZE) particles using the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS). The biological effectiveness of (56)Fe ions (1000 MeV/nucleon) relative to low-LET gamma rays and high-LET alpha particles for the induction of chromosome damage and micronuclei was determined. The mitotic index and the frequency of chromosome aberrations were evaluated in bone marrow cells, and the frequency of micronuclei was measured in cells isolated from the trachea and the deep lung. A marked delay in the entry of cells into mitosis was induced in the bone marrow cells that decreased as a function of time after the exposure. The frequencies of chromatid aberrations and micronuclei increased as linear functions of dose. The frequency of chromosome aberrations induced by HZE particles was about 3.2 times higher than that observed after exposure to (60)Co gamma rays. The frequency of micronuclei in rat lung fibroblasts, lung epithelial cells, and tracheal epithelial cells increased linearly, with slopes of 7 x 10(-4), 12 x 10(-4), and 11 x 10(-4) micronuclei/binucleated cell cGy(-1), respectively. When genetic damage induced by radiation from (56)Fe ions was compared to that from exposure to (60)Co gamma rays, (56)Fe-ion radiation was between 0.9 and 3.3 times more effective than (60)Co gamma rays. However, the HZE-particle exposures were only 10-20% as effective as radon in producing micronuclei in either deep lung or tracheal epithelial cells. Using microdosimetric techniques, we estimated that 32 cells were hit by delta rays for each cell that was traversed by the primary HZE (56)Fe particle. These calculations and the observed low relative effectiveness of the exposure to HZE particles suggest that at least part of the cytogenetic damage measured was caused by the delta rays. Much of the energy deposited by the primary HZE particles may result in cell killing and may therefore be "wasted" as far as production of detectable micronuclei is concerned. The role of wasted energy in studies of cancer induction may be important in risk estimates for exposure to HZE particles.

Non-NASA Center↗

DOE OSTI2016

Sellafield FGMSP Additional Sludge Retrievals A Significant Step in Decommissioning Part of the U.K.'s Nuclear Legacy - 16180

The First Generation Magnox Storage Pond (FGMSP) is an open-air pond on the Sellafield site (U.K.) constructed to receive and store spent nuclear fuel from the UK's fleet of Magnox reactors. Operations ceased in 1986, leaving a significant mobile (sludge from the corrosion of fuel cladding) and solids (fuel, fuel fragments and other debris) inventory. In December 2013, Westinghouse Electric Company and EnergySolutions proposed to create an Additional Sludge Retrieval (ASR) capability, with the aim of starting sustainable sludge transfer and hazard reduction as soon as possible. The ASR project team proposed a sludge retrievals concept based on the use of a self-propelled, remote controlled Floating Platform. The deployment system was derived from a Floating Platform concept developed by Westinghouse to support field operations in European nuclear power plants. The system was designed, manufactured and successfully tested in real scale conditions, and was installed and fully commissioned in March 2015. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2016

Genomic composition and dynamics among Methanomicrobiales predict adaptation to contrasting environments

Members of the order Methanomicrobiales are abundant, and sometimes dominant, hydrogenotrophic (H 2 -CO 2 utilizing) methanoarchaea in a broad range of anoxic habitats. In spite of their key roles in greenhouse gas emissions and waste conversion to methane, little is known about the physiological and genomic bases for their widespread distribution and abundance. In this work, we compared the genomes of nine diverse Methanomicrobiales strains, examined their pangenomes, reconstructed gene flow and identified genes putatively mediating their success across different habitats. Most strains slowly increased gene content whereas one, Methanocorpusculum labreanum, evidenced genome downsizing. Peat-dwelling Methanomicrobiales showed adaptations centered on improved transport of scarce inorganic nutrients and likely use H + rather than Na + transmembrane chemiosmotic gradients during energy conservation. In contrast, other Methanomicrobiales show the potential to concurrently use Na + and H + chemiosmotic gradients. Analyses also revealed that the Methanomicrobiales lack a canonical electron bifurcation system (MvhABGD) known to produce low potential electrons in other orders of hydrogenotrophic methanogens. Additional putative differences in anabolic metabolism suggest that the dynamics of interspecies electron transfer from Methanomicrobiales syntrophic partners can also differ considerably. Altogether, our findings suggest profound differences in electron trafficking in the Methanomicrobiales compared with other hydrogenotrophs, and warrant further functional evaluations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2017

ZIF-67 incorporated with carbon derived from pomelo peels: A highly efficient bifunctional catalyst for oxygen reduction/evolution reactions

Developing carbon catalyst materials using natural, abundant and renewable resources as precursors plays an increasingly important role in clean energy generation and environmental protection. In this work, N-doped pomelo-peel-derived carbon (NPC) materials were prepared using a widely available food waste-pomelo peels and melamine. The synthetic NPC exhibits well-defined porosities and a highly doped-N content (e.g. 6.38 at% for NPC-2), therefore affords excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalytic activities in alkaline electrolytes. NPC was further integrated with ZIF-67 to form ZIF-67@NPC hybrids through solvothermal reactions. The hybrid catalysts show substantially enhanced ORR catalytic activities comparable to that of commercial 20 wa Pt/C. Furthermore, the catalysts also exhibit excellent oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalytic activities. Among all prepared ZIF-67@NPC hybrids, the optimal composition with ZIF-67 to NPC ratio of 2:1 exhibits the best ORR and OER bifunctional catalytic performance and the smallest Delta E (E-OER@10 mA cm(-2)-E-ORR@-1 mA cm(-2)) value of 0.79 V. The catalyst also demonstrated desirable 4-electron transfer pathways and superior catalytic stabilities. The Co-N-4 in ZIF-67, electrochemical active surface area, and the strong interactions between ZIF-67 and NPC are attributed as the main contributors to the bifunctional catalytic activities. These factors act synergistically, resulting in substantially enhanced bifunctional catalytic activities and stabilities; consequently, this hybrid catalyst is among the best of the reported bifunctional electrocatalysts and is promising for use in metal-air batteries and fuel cells. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2015

Leaching characteristics of toxic constituents from coal fly ash mixed soils under the influence of pH

Highlights: • The impact of pH on the leaching of elements and metals from fly ash mixed soils. • Generally Ca, Cd, Mg, and Sr follows a cationic leaching pattern. • The leaching of As and Se shows an oxyanionic leaching pattern. • The leaching behavior of elements does not change based on material type. • Different fly ash types show different abilities in immobilizing trace elements. - Abstract: Leaching behaviors of Arsenic (As), Barium (Ba), Calcium (Ca), Cadmium (Cd), Magnesium (Mg), Selenium (Se), and Strontium (Sr) from soil alone, coal fly ash alone, and soil-coal fly ash mixtures, were studied at a pH range of 2–14 via pH-dependent leaching tests. Seven different types of soils and coal fly ashes were tested. Results of this study indicated that Ca, Cd, Mg, and Sr showed cationic leaching pattern while As and Se generally follows an oxyanionic leaching pattern. On the other hand, leaching of Ba presented amphoteric-like leaching pattern but less pH-dependent. In spite of different types and composition of soil and coal fly ash investigated, the study reveals the similarity in leaching behavior as a function of pH for a given element from soil, coal fly ash, and soil-coal fly ash mixtures. The similarity is most likely due to similar controlling mechanisms (e.g., solubility, sorption, and solid-solution formation) and similar controlling factors (e.g., leachate pH and redox conditions). This offers the opportunity to transfer knowledge of coal fly ash that has been extensively characterized and studied to soil stabilized with coal fly ash. It is speculated that unburned carbon in off-specification coal fly ashes may provide sorption sites for Cd resulting in a reduction in concentration of these elements in leachate from soil-coal fly ash mixture. Class C fly ash provides sufficient CaO to initiate the pozzolanic reaction yielding hydrated cement products that oxyanions, including As and Se, can be incorporated into.

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DOE OSTI2022

Hanford Site Composite Analysis: Recharge and Inventory Sensitivity Analyses for the A Trenches, BC Cribs and Trenches, and PUREX Area Vadose Zone Models

The main objectives of the composite analysis (CA) compliance case vadose zone (VZ) facet are to simulate transport of radionuclide releases from the surface to the water table, and to provide radionuclide transfer rates to groundwater for inclusion into the Plateau-to-River (P2R) saturated zone (SZ) model (CP-57037, Model Package Report: Plateau to River Groundwater Model, Version 8.3). The CA compliance case approach to address the scale and distribution of contaminant sources in the VZ facet is to subdivide the Hanford Site Central Plateau into 26 models that contain contaminant sources and liquid discharges likely to commingle during migration through the VZ to the water table

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NASA NTRS1995

Mineralogic variations in fluvial sediments contaminated by mine tailings as determined from AVIRIS data, Coeur D'Alene River Valley, Idaho

The success of imaging spectrometry in mineralogic mapping of natural terrains indicates that the technology can also be used to assess the environmental impact of human activities in certain instances. Specifically, this paper describes an investigation into the use of data from the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) for mapping the spread of, and assessing changes in, the mineralogic character of tailings from a major silver and base metal mining district. The area under investigation is the Coeur d'Alene River Valley in northern Idaho. Mining has been going on in and around the towns of Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho since the 1880's. In the Kellogg-Smelterville Flats area, west of Kellogg, mine tailings were piled alongside the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River. Until the construction of tailings ponds in 1968 much of these waste materials were washed directly into the South Fork. The Kellogg-Smelterville area was declared an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site in 1983 and remediation efforts are currently underway. Recent studies have demonstrated that sediments in the Coeur d'Alene River and in the northern part of Lake Coeur d'Alene, into which the river flows, are highly enriched in Ag, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Hg, As, and Sb. These trace metals have become aggregated in iron oxide and oxyhydroxide minerals and/or mineraloids. Reflectance spectra of iron-rich tailing materials are shown. Also shown are spectra of hematite and goethite. The broad bandwidth and long band center (near 1 micron) of the Fe(3+) crystal-field band of the iron-rich sediment samples combined with the lack of features on the Fe(3+) -O(2-) charge transfer absorption edge indicates that the ferric oxide and/or oxyhydroxide in these sediments is poorly crystalline to amorphous in character. Similar features are seen in poorly crystalline basaltic weathering products (e.g., palagonites). The problem of mapping and analyzing the downriver occurrences of iron rich tailings in the Coeur d'Alene (CDA) River Valley using remotely sensed data is complicated by the full vegetation cover present in the area. Because exposures of rock and soil were sparse, the data processing techniques used in this study were sensitive to detecting materials at subpixel scales. The methods used included spectral mixture analysis and a constrained energy minimization technique.

Farrand, W. H.↗

DOE OSTI2016

Varying Conditions for Hexanoic Acid Degradation with BioTiger™

BioTiger™ (BT) is a consortium of 12 bacteria designed for petroleum waste biodegradation. BT is currently being studied and could be considered for bioremediation of the Athabasca oil sands refineries in Canada and elsewhere. The run-off ponds from the petroleum extraction processes, called tailings ponds, are a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, naphthenic acids, hydrocarbons, toxic chemicals like heavy metals, water, and sand. Due to environmental regulations the oil industry would like to separate and degrade the hazardous chemical species from the tailings ponds while recycling the water. It has been shown that BT at 30 C° is able to completely degrade 10 mM hexanoic acid (HA) co-metabolically with 0.2% yeast extract (w/v) in 48 hours when starting at 0.4 OD 600nm. After establishing this stable degradation capability, variations were tested to explore the wider parameters of BT activity in temperature, pH, intermediate degradation, co-metabolic dependence, and transfer stability. Due to the vast differences in temperature at various points in the refineries, a wide range of temperatures were assessed. The results indicate that BT retains the ability to degrade HA, a model surrogate for tailings pond contaminants, at temperatures ranging from 15°C to 35°C. Hexanamide (HAM) was shown to be an intermediate generated during the degradation of HA in an earlier work and HAM is completely degraded after 48 hours, indicating that HAM is not the final product of HA degradation. Various replacements for yeast extract were attempted. Glucose, a carbon source; casein amino acids, a protein source; additional ammonia, mimicking known media; and additional phosphate with Wolffe’s vitamins and minerals all showed no significant degradation of HA compared to control. Decreasing the yeast extract concentration (0.05%) demonstrated limited but significant degradation. Finally, serial inoculations of BT were performed to determine the stability of degradation over several generations. Overall, BT has shown to be moderately flexible for HA co-metabolic biodegradation.

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS↗

DOE OSTI2012

Chemical Pre-Treatment of used Fuel for Long–Term Storage

Repository programs throughout the world have been slowed by the need for increased local public involvement in the siting and licensing process. The result has been an increase in the dry storage of used fuel at reactor sites and the potential that such storage may be extended for many decades, even centuries. While there are sound technical reasons to believe that dry storage can be conducted safely, there are increasing concerns that the ultimate transfer to either a future repository or a centralized separations plant may result in fractured cladding and serious handling issues, including criticality concerns. These concerns would be increased for higher burn-up fuels. Currently, various chemical pre-treatment processes under R&D for application to commercial used oxide fuel have been investigated at the laboratory scale as methods to simplify and increase the safety of the remaining stages of conventional solvent extraction processing. This includes advanced decladding methods and various oxidation/reduction processes designed to release volatile and semi-volatile fission products, produce finely divided uranium oxide powder, and ameliorate the subsequent nitric acid dissolution step. The paper examines the potential for combining several chemical and physical pre-treatment steps to minimize long-term concerns about safe transport of used fuel, possibly providing another option for future nuclear waste management. Laboratory data from both cold and hot testing will provide the basis for the evaluation. An example of a potential pre-treatment process includes shearing, advanced voloxidation and off-gas treatment, the possible mixing of the resulting uranium oxide with a secondary oxide, and densification and recanning in nitric acid-soluble storage containers for extended time periods. Chemical decladding may be feasible to replace shearing. Zirconium recycle may also be feasible, significantly reducing high level waste quantities. Both analytic and experimental data will be applied to the examination of this potential fuel cycle option.

Bresee, James↗

DOE OSTI2020

Deposition Behavior of Supersaturated Silicic Acid on the Surfaces of Chlorite and Sericite around Geological Repository - 20138

Around the repository for HLW underground, cementitious materials used for the repository may complicate the migration of radionuclides in the host rock by the alteration of groundwater to a high alkaline condition. Specially, the alkaline groundwater dissolves silicate minerals of host rocks but the plenty of silicic acid dissolved from host rocks in groundwater will become supersaturated and deposit on the surface of flow-paths after decreasing the pH value to about 8 with dispersion and dilution. The deposition of silicic acid is presumed to recover and improve the barrier performance of host rocks for the radionuclide migration because of the narrowing of flow paths and the decrease of the permeability. In this study, the deposition behavior of supersaturated silicic acid was examined by the deposition experiments and the deposition rate constants, k [m/s], were evaluated from the experimental data. As the minerals of the surface of flow-paths, this study focused on chlorite and sericite, hydrothermally-altered minerals distributed to fill fractures of granite. In the experiments, deposition behavior of silicic acid on the powder of chlorite or sericite was observed after the pH of the solution was adjusted to 8 in order to make the silicic acid supersaturated. The solution of CaCl{sub 2} and NaCl were added into a silicic acid to simulate Ca{sup 2+} from the cementitious materials of the repository, Na{sup +} of the saline groundwater in Japan. From the results, the value of k was estimated to be about the order of 10{sup -10}∼10{sup -9} m/s for both chlorite and sericite and the value was almost the same as those for amorphous silica in the previous study. Therefore, the deposition of silicic acid may be assessed by similar apparent deposition rate constants even in actual underground containing various silicate minerals. Moreover, the Damkoehler number which is the dimensionless number expressed by the ratio of characteristic time of mass transfer and chemical reaction was calculated to be 10{sup 4} or more from the value of k. This value shows that the deposition reaction of silicic acid was estimated as much more predominant than the groundwater flow under the situation simulated in this study. These results suggest that the deposition of supersaturated silicic acid on the flow paths composed with various silicate minerals will be able to retard the migration of radionuclides because of narrowing micro flow-paths. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2025

Molecular Imaging of Microbially Induced Corrosion of Synthetic Archeological Glasses by a Rhizosphere Bacterium

Microbially induced corrosion (MIC) focuses on the degradation of solid materials, such as glass or metal. Soil microbes are often associated with the corrosion of foreign objects in the rhizosphere. Paenibacillus polymyxa SCE2, a facultative anaerobic bacterium in soil, is of the same genus as bacteria found near nuclear waste disposal sites. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) was used for imaging surface changes induced by P. polymyxa SCE2 cultured on two synthetic glass coupons to represent natural analogs of materials that were studied in relation to the vitrification of nuclear waste. Multimodal imaging was used to verify bacterial coverage across the glass surface after long-term growth. ToF-SIMS spectral analysis showed detection of glass component ions, such as silicon oxide (m/z – 59.96 SiO 2 – ) and aluminum oxide (m/z – 101.95 Al 2 O 3 – ), and biofilm’s extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) components, such as pentadecanoic acid (m/z – 241.22 C 15 H 29 O 2 – ) and sterol lipids (m/z – 311.16 C 20 H 23 O 3 – ). ToF-SIMS spectral, imaging, and depth profiling analyses showed that the glass rich in silica and other light elements (“granite glass”) had more “corrosion related” peaks than the glass that was less silica-rich and contained more iron (“dike glass”). Furthermore, these surface and interface compositional and spatial differences observed in the mass spectra and imaging were attributed to bacterial metabolism and an electron transfer mechanism influenced by morphological and compositional differences between the two types of glasses. ToF-SIMS is effective in studying microbial effects, bringing new molecular insights into MIC in a broader context of materials degradation.

Amorphous materials↗

NASA NTRS1989

Numerical model of solar dynamic radiator for parametric analysis

Growth power requirements for Space Station Freedom will be met through addition of 25 kW solar dynamic (SD) power modules. The SD module rejects waste heat from the power conversion cycle to space through a pumped-loop, multi-panel, deployable radiator. The baseline radiator configuration was defined during the Space Station conceptual design phase and is a function of the state point and heat rejection requirements of the power conversion unit. Requirements determined by the overall station design such as mass, system redundancy, micrometeoroid and space debris impact survivability, launch packaging, costs, and thermal and structural interaction with other station components have also been design drivers for the radiator configuration. Extensive thermal and power cycle modeling capabilities have been developed which are powerful tools in Station design and analysis, but which prove cumbersome and costly for simple component preliminary design studies. In order to aid in refining the SD radiator to the mature design stage, a simple and flexible numerical model was developed. The model simulates heat transfer and fluid flow performance of the radiator and calculates area mass and impact survivability for many combinations of flow tube and panel configurations, fluid and material properties, and environmental and cycle variations. A brief description and discussion of the numerical model, it's capabilities and limitations, and results of the parametric studies performed is presented.

Rhatigan, Jennifer L.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Mixing Study for the Modification of H-Canyon Tank 31 and 32 Recirculation Lines Via M-Star®

As a part of the Accelerated Basin De-Inventory (ABD) program Tanks 31 or 32 will be re-purposed to support increasing the number of annual Material Test Reactor (MTR) and High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) dissolutions. The proposed plan will allow Tanks 31 or 32 to be used as the dissolver cold chemical solution makeup tank and storage tank. The dissolver cold chemicals are 50% nitric acid, process water, mercuric nitrate, and gadolinium nitrate. Tanks 31 and 32 are 9 ft. (outer diameter) x 36 ft, horizontal, and can hold approximately 56,000 liters (15,000 gallons) each. One full volume of Tanks 31 or 32 can support 4 HFIR 6.4D equivalent batches. Both tanks are equipped with liquid level instrumentation. Tank 31 is equipped with 1 pump used for transfer and recirculation while Tank 32 is equipped with two pumps, one for transfer and the other for recirculation. Each of the pumps is equipped with sample taps. The tanks do not have specific gravity instrumentation, an agitator, or a sampler. Piping modifications will also be performed to supply the tank with cold chemicals. The current dissolver chemical composition is 5.0 -8.5M HNO3 and ~0.2 g Gd/L. The recirculating pump connected to Tank 31 is rated for a flowrate 175 gpm while the pump connected to Tank 32 is rated for a flowrate 50 gpm.

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DOE OSTI2019

Retrieval and Management of TRU Sludge at Hanford K-Basin - 19641

At the US Department of Energy Hanford site, the K-East and K-West reactor fuel storage basins (KE or KW Basin) were used in the 1970's and 1980's to store more than 100,000 uranium fuel rods and rod fragments that had been irradiated in the Hanford N Reactor. Approximately 2,100 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel that had been stored in the KW Basin were removed in 2004. Over time a mixture of small fuel corrosion particles, fuel rod metal fragments, and other debris accumulated in the KW Basin from the degradation of the spent nuclear fuel during storage. This is the source of the TRU sludge stored in the KW Basin. The corrosion products mixed with windblown sand, concrete dust, and other debris in the basin to form what is known as sludge. In 2006/2007 KE Basin sludge of similar origin as the KW Basin was transferred to KW Basin. Approximately 27 m{sup 3} of highly radioactive sludge was collected and consolidated underwater in six specially designed engineered containers. The mission of the Hanford Sludge Treatment Project (STP) is to develop and deploy technologies to safely retrieve, transport, and interim store the approximately 27 m{sup 3} of remote-handled transuranic (RH-TRU) sludge that is stored in the KW Basin. After extensive technology development, testing (with a bounding range of simulants), design, and procurement a sludge removal and storage system called the Engineered Container Retrieval and Transfer System (ECRTS) completed acceptance testing in 2018. The ECRTS system is designed to remotely retrieve and transport high density, highly erosive, uranium metal pieces as well as small low-density particles. The ECRTS system includes a retrieval tool based on the XAGO{sup tm} design from the United Kingdom, a heavily modified positive displacement pump, a hose-in-hose transfer system, a Sludge Transport and Storage Container (STSC), a settling and decant system, and a shielded transport system. The first sludge transfer was successfully completed on June 12, 2018 proving that the ECRTS process equipment worked as intended on the actual sludge. Three batches (i.e. transfer and decant) were required to obtain a ∼ 100% fill of the first STSC. The STSC was then transported to the on-site storage facility. Over 20 STSCs will be filled with RH-TRU sludge over approximately 16 months. This paper will discuss the issues and successes associated with this project including the operational aspects of this new system. Experience gained from this successful project should assist anyone with the need to retrieve and manage remote handled sludge from fuel storage basins. (authors)

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