82 research outputs found
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Dissolution characteristics of mixed UO{sub 2} powders in J-13 water under saturated conditions
The Yucca Mountain Project/Spent Fuel program at Argonne National Laboratory is designed to determine radionuclide release rates by exposing high-level waste to repository-relevant groundwater. To gain experience for the tests with spent fuel, a scoping experiment was conducted at room temperature to determine the uranium release rate from an unirradiated UO{sub 2} powder mixture (14.3 wt % enrichment in {sup 235}U) to J-13 water under saturated conditions. Another goal set for the experiment was to develop a method for utilizing isotope dilution techniques to determine whether the dissolution rate of UO{sub 2} matrix is in accordance with an existing kinetic model. Results of these analyses revealed unequal uranium dissolution rates from the enriched and depleted portions of the powder mixture because of undisclosed differences between them. Although the presence of this inhomogeneity has precluded the application of the kinetic model, it also provided an opportunity to elaborate on the utilization of isotope dilution data in recognizing and quantifying such conditions. Detailed listings of uranium release and solution chemistry data are presented. Other problems commonly associated with spent fuel, such as the effectiveness of filtering media, the existence of uranium concentration peaks during early stages of the leach tests, the need for concentration corrections due to water replenishments of sample volumes, and experience derived from isotope dilution data are discussed in the context of the present results. 10 refs., 5 figs., 7 tabs
Metal hydrides for concentrating solar thermal power energy storage
The development of alternative methods for thermal energy storage is important for improving the efficiency and decreasing the cost for Concentrating Solar-thermal Power (CSP). We focus on the underlying technology that allows metal hydrides to function as Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems and highlight the current state-of-the-art materials that can operate at temperatures as low as room-temperature and as high as 1100 oC. The potential of metal hydrides for thermal storage is explored while current knowledge gaps about hydride properties, such as hydride thermodynamics, intrinsic kinetics and cyclic stability, are identified. The engineering challenges associated with utilising metal hydrides for high-temperature thermal energy storage are also addressed
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Repository-relevant testing applied to the Yucca Mountain Project
A repository environment poses a challenge to developing a testing program because of the diverse nature of conditions that may exist at a given time during the life of the repository. A starting point is to identify whether any potential waste-water contact modes are particularly deleterious to the waste form performance, and whether any interactions between materials present in the waste package environment need to be accounted for during modeling the waste form reaction. The Unsaturated Test method in one approach that has been developed by the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP) to investigate the above issues, and a description of results that have been obtained during the testing of glass and unirradiated UO{sub 2} are the subject of this report. 10 refs., 7 figs., 4 tabs
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Argonne National Laboratory Reports
The available thermodynamic information is reviewed for three categories of materials that meet essential criteria for use as breeding blankets in deuterium-tritium (D-T) fueled fusion reactors: liquid lithium, solid lithium alloys, and lithium-containing ceramics. The leading candidate, liquid lithium, which also has potential for use as a coolant, has been studied more extensively than have the solid alloys or ceramics
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Identification of secondary phases formed during unsaturated reaction of UO{sub 2} with EJ-13 water
A set of experiments, wherein UO{sub 2} has been contacted by dripping water, has been conducted over a period of 182.5 weeks. The experiments are being conducted to develop procedures to study spent fuel reaction under unsaturated conditions that are expected to exist over the lifetime of the proposed Yucca Mountain repository site. One half of the experiments have been terminated, while one half are ongoing. Analyses of solutions that have dripped from the reacted UO{sub 2} have been performed for all experiments, while the reacted UO{sub 2} surfaces have been examined for the terminated experiments. A pulse of uranium release from the UO{sub 2} solid, combined with the formation of schoepite on the surface of the UO{sub 2}, was observed between 39 and 96 weeks of reaction. Thereafter, the uranium release decreased and a second set of secondary phases was observed. The latter phases incorporated cations from the EJ-13 water and included boltwoodite, uranophane, sklodowskite, compreignacite, and schoepite. The experiments are continuing to monitor whether additional changes in solution chemistry or secondary phase formation occurs. 6 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs
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