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Management of Radioactive Wastes C. A. MAWSON, Head Environmental Research Branch Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories Atomic Energy of Canada Limited Chalk River, Ontario INTRODUCTION When I first became concerned with radioactive waste management, in the early 1950's, very little was really known about the subject. There was a general feeling that it was a serious "problem. " Articles were appearing in the press and talks were being given on the radio suggesting that the wastes generated by the proposed nuclear power reactors might he a serious menace to humanity. The prophets pointed with alarm to the enormous quantities of fission products that would accumulate steadily over the years in tank farms associated with reactor fuel reprocessing plants, and calculations were made of the possible results from rupture of the tanks due to corrosion, earthquakes or enemy attack. Responsible people suggested seriously that the waste disposal problem might be fatal to the development of a nuclear power industry, and this attitude was reinforced by the popular outcry that arose from experience with fallout from nuclear weapons testing. The Canadian nuclear power industry was not critically involved in this controversy because our heavy-water reactors are fuelled with natural uranium, and reprocessing of the fuel is not necessary. The spent fuel contains plutonium, a potential fuel, but the cost of recovering it was such that it was not competitive with natural uranium, which is not in short supply in Canada. Our spent fuel is not dissolved in acid - it is stored, still in its zirconium cladding, under water at the reactor site, or placed in sealed concrete-and-steel pipes below ground. If the price of uranium rises sufficiently it will become profitable to recover the plutonium, and only then shall we have an appreciable amount of waste from this source. However, during the first five or six years of research and development at Chalk River we did investigate fuel processing methods, and like everybody else we hsd stainless steel tanks containing high and medium level wastes. These were located quite close to the Ottawa River, and we worried about what would happen if they leaked. We did not know to what extent the fission products, such as strontium-90, cesium-137 and cerium-144, would be held back by adsorption onto the soil, nor did we know the dilution regime of the river. NEPHELINE SYENITE GLASS FIXATION Before it was finally decided not to reprocess power reactor fuel we started development of a method for fixation of wastes into glass. By the time this technique had successfully passed its pilot-plant stage that decision was taken, and a commercial-scale plant was never built, but a brief description of the process may be of interest. Our high-level reprocessing wastes were in solution in concentrated nitric acid. Watson and his co-workers (1) found that if the acid solution was poured onto powdered nepheline syenite a gel was formed which absorbed the liquid. - 5 -
Object Description
Purdue Identification Number | ETRIWC196702 |
Title | Management of radioactive wastes |
Author | Mawson, C. A. |
Date of Original | 1967 |
Conference Title | Proceedings of the 22nd Industrial Waste Conference |
Conference Front Matter (copy and paste) | http://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/u?/engext,14179 |
Extent of Original | p. 5-11 |
Series |
Engineering extension series no. 129 Engineering bulletin v. 52, no. 3 |
Collection Title | Engineering Technical Reports Collection, Purdue University |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Rights Statement | Digital object copyright Purdue University. All rights reserved. |
Language | eng |
Type (DCMI) | text |
Format | JP2 |
Date Digitized | 2009-05-20 |
Capture Device | Fujitsu fi-5650C |
Capture Details | ScandAll 21 |
Resolution | 300 ppi |
Color Depth | 8 bit |
Description
Title | page 5 |
Collection Title | Engineering Technical Reports Collection, Purdue University |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Rights Statement | Digital object copyright Purdue University. All rights reserved. |
Language | eng |
Type (DCMI) | text |
Format | JP2 |
Capture Device | Fujitsu fi-5650C |
Capture Details | ScandAll 21 |
Transcript | Management of Radioactive Wastes C. A. MAWSON, Head Environmental Research Branch Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories Atomic Energy of Canada Limited Chalk River, Ontario INTRODUCTION When I first became concerned with radioactive waste management, in the early 1950's, very little was really known about the subject. There was a general feeling that it was a serious "problem. " Articles were appearing in the press and talks were being given on the radio suggesting that the wastes generated by the proposed nuclear power reactors might he a serious menace to humanity. The prophets pointed with alarm to the enormous quantities of fission products that would accumulate steadily over the years in tank farms associated with reactor fuel reprocessing plants, and calculations were made of the possible results from rupture of the tanks due to corrosion, earthquakes or enemy attack. Responsible people suggested seriously that the waste disposal problem might be fatal to the development of a nuclear power industry, and this attitude was reinforced by the popular outcry that arose from experience with fallout from nuclear weapons testing. The Canadian nuclear power industry was not critically involved in this controversy because our heavy-water reactors are fuelled with natural uranium, and reprocessing of the fuel is not necessary. The spent fuel contains plutonium, a potential fuel, but the cost of recovering it was such that it was not competitive with natural uranium, which is not in short supply in Canada. Our spent fuel is not dissolved in acid - it is stored, still in its zirconium cladding, under water at the reactor site, or placed in sealed concrete-and-steel pipes below ground. If the price of uranium rises sufficiently it will become profitable to recover the plutonium, and only then shall we have an appreciable amount of waste from this source. However, during the first five or six years of research and development at Chalk River we did investigate fuel processing methods, and like everybody else we hsd stainless steel tanks containing high and medium level wastes. These were located quite close to the Ottawa River, and we worried about what would happen if they leaked. We did not know to what extent the fission products, such as strontium-90, cesium-137 and cerium-144, would be held back by adsorption onto the soil, nor did we know the dilution regime of the river. NEPHELINE SYENITE GLASS FIXATION Before it was finally decided not to reprocess power reactor fuel we started development of a method for fixation of wastes into glass. By the time this technique had successfully passed its pilot-plant stage that decision was taken, and a commercial-scale plant was never built, but a brief description of the process may be of interest. Our high-level reprocessing wastes were in solution in concentrated nitric acid. Watson and his co-workers (1) found that if the acid solution was poured onto powdered nepheline syenite a gel was formed which absorbed the liquid. - 5 - |
Resolution | 300 ppi |
Color Depth | 8 bit |
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