Opening Up the Politics of Knowledge and Power in Bioscience

Public engagement is not in tension with science, but actually a way to be more rigorous - as well as more democratic - about social choice of biotechnology

Argonne National Laboratory Reports

Operation of liquid-metal-cooled fast breeder reactors (LMFBRs) will result in production of various quantities of radioactive sodium waste. Two methods have been developed and tested on a small scale for converting this sodium waste to inert compounds suitable for disposal. The first method is direct oxidation of the sodium after dispersal in a silica matrix. The sodium is mixed with silica and oxidized in a rotary drum reactor. The product is suitable for making glass when other stabilizing compounds are added. The second method is reaction of elemental sodium with molten sodium hydroxide at 450 degrees C and subsequent injection of steam into the melt to convert the reaction products (Na2O and NaH) to additional sodium hydroxide. The reactions are smooth and easily controlled with little danger of run-away reactions. The end product is molten sodium hydroxide which can be cast into drums for further treatment or disposal. The advantages of these two methods over more conventional aqueous processes are the elimination of aqueous wastes and the elimination of minimization of gaseous effluents

Development of on-line monitoring device to detect the presence/absence of sodium vapor

A process is being developed by the Sodium Waste Technology Program at ANL-W to remove metallic sodium from scrap and waste. The final step in the process is the removal of residual metallic sodium by evaporation at temperatures up to 482/sup 0/C (900/sup 0/F) and at pressures of about 10/sup -2/ torr (1.3 Pa). Efficient operation of this process requires that the operators have a method to indicate the completion of the evaporation. This end point would signify when the chamber and scrap and waste is free of metallic sodium. It was determined that a measure of the vacuum was not sufficiently sensitive, and a research effort was undertaken to select an on-line monitoring device. In this effort, three promising methods were reviewed. The use of quadrupole mass spectrometer was recommended and an on-line device was designed for use in a Sodium Process Demonstration (SPD) Plant

Argonne National Laboratory Reports

A process is being developed by the Sodium Waste Technology Program at ANL-W to remove metallic sodium from scrap and waste. The final step in the process is the removal of residual metallic sodium by evaporation at temperatures up to 482 C (900 F) and at pressures of about 10⁻² torr (1.3 Pa). Efficient operation of this process requires that the operators have a method to indicate the completion of the evaporation. This end point would signify when the chamber and scrap and waste is free of metallic sodium. It was determined that a measure of the vacuum was not sufficiently sensitive, and a research effort was undertaken to select an on-line monitoring device. In this effort, three promising methods were reviewed. The use of quadrupole mass spectrometer was recommended and an on-line device was designed for use in a Sodium Process Demonstration (SPD) Plant

The integral fast reactor fuels reprocessing laboratory at Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois

The processing of Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) metal fuel utilizes pyrochemical fuel reprocessing steps. These steps include separation of the fission products from uranium and plutonium by electrorefining in a fused salt, subsequent concentration of uranium and plutonium for reuse, removal, concentration, and packaging of the waste material. Approximately two years ago a facility became operational at Argonne National Laboratory-Illinois to establish the chemical feasibility of proposed reprocessing and consolidation processes. Sensitivity of the pyroprocessing melts to air oxidation necessitated operation in atmosphere-controlled enclosures. The Integral Fast Reactor Fuels Reprocessing Laboratory is described

Argonne National Laboratory Reports

The Sodium Technology program currently comprises three parts. The first part is aimed at developing a model for accurately describing the behavior of tritium in LMFBRs from its formation in the core to its ultimate retention in the cold traps or release to the environment. Two important parts of this model are the behavior of the sodium cold traps and permeation of tritium through the steam-generator heat-transfer surfaces. A tritium monitor has been developed and installed on EBR-II to measure tritium specific activities and to test the model of an operating LMFBR. The second part of the program is focused in two areas: 91) on-reactor-site conversion of commercial-grade sodium and (2) requalifying sodium from decommissioned reactors for reuse in future LMFBRs