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Release Behaviour of Sr-90 From Hydraulically Retrieved ILW Sludge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

J J Hastings
J J Hastings*
Affiliation:
Nexia Solutions Ltd, Sellafield, Seascale, Cumbria, CA20 1PG, UK
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Abstract

Globally, the nuclear industry has a large number of legacy wastes that are stored in ponds, silos and tanks that are nearing the end of their design lifetime and hence said wastes need processing. In the UK there are significant quantities of radioactive sludge that have arisen from the corrosion of early Magnox fuel cans which have been stored underwater. As part of the present aggressive clean-up programme these materials will be retrieved, separated, processed and immobilised as dry waste forms for long-term storage. It is envisaged that hydraulic retrieval will be used for these ILW sludges resulting in some activity being released from the sludge phase to the process liquors challenging downstream ion exchange effluent treatment plants.

In order to understand this challenge, experiments have been conducted on sludge in ILW storage ponds and during sludge transfer operations to study the activity released from said sludges. In particular the solubility, adsorption behaviour of Sr-90 is discussed and how this and other aspects of the sludge chemistry impact upon the ion exchange effluent treatment process. The novel methodologies employed to obtain this data is also discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1107: Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXXI , 2008 , 613
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2008

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