Radioactive particulate release associated with the DOT specification 6M container under hypothetical accident conditions

A testing program was conducted to determine the leakage of depleted uranium dioxide powder (DUO) from the inner containment components of the US Department of Transportation's (DOT) specification 6M container under hypothetical accident conditions. Depleted uranium dioxide was selected as a surrogate for plutonium oxide because of the similarities in the powder characteristics, density and particle size, and because of the special handling and special facilities required for plutonium oxide. The DUO was packaged inside food pack cans in three different configurations inside the 2R vessel of the 6M container. The amount of DUO powder leakage ranged from none detectable (<2 x 10/sup -7/ g) to a high of 1 x 10/sup -3/ g. The combination of gravity, vibration and pressure produced the highest leakage of DUO. Containers that had hermetic seals (leak rates <6 x 10/sup -4/ atm cc/min) did not leak any detectable amount (<2 x 10/sup -7/ g) of DUO under the test conditions. Impact forces had no effect on the leakage of particles with the packaging configurations used. 23 refs., 24 figs., 3 tabs

Defense by-products production and utilization program: noble metal recovery screening experiments

Isotopes of the platinum metals (rutheium, rhodium, and palladium) are produced during uranium fuel fission in nuclear reactors. The strategic values of these noble metals warrant considering their recovery from spent fuel should the spent fuel be processed after reactor discharge. A program to evaluate methods for ruthenium, rhodium, and palladium recovery from spent fuel reprocessing liquids was conducted at Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL). The purpose of the work reported in this docuent was to evaluate several recovery processes revealed in the patent and technical literature. Beaker-scale screening tests were initiated for three potential recovery processes: precipitation during sugar denitration of nitric acid reprocessing solutions after plutonium-uranium solvent extraction, adsorption using nobe metal selective chelates on active carbon, and reduction forming solid noble metal deposits on an amine-borane reductive resin. Simulated reprocessing plant solutions representing typical nitric acid liquids from defense (PUREX) or commercial fuel reprocessing facilities were formulated and used for evaluation of the three processes. 9 refs., 3 figs., 9 tabs

Calcite solubility in simulated geothermal brines

The deposition of scale on geothermal piping surfaces has been recognized as a cause of increased pressure drop and diminished fluid flow. The two most common scales encountered in the geothermal energy field are silica and calcite. The main purpose of this study was to obtain accurate, reliable calcite solubility data in brines similar to natural geothermal brines over the temperature range of most known exploitable geothermal resources. In addition, geothermal fluid equilibrium modeling efforts and data bases can be refined and fine-turned with respect to the commercially important calcite-geothermal fluid stability problem with these data. The effect of sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate on the solubility of CaCO/sub 3/ (calcite) in high temperature solutions was measured over the 100 to 300/sup 0/C temperature range. The brines studied contained 0 to 5 wt % NaCl, 0 to 5 mM NaHCO/sub 3/, and 0.003 to 0.1 M CO/sub 2/. The data detailing calcite solubility at various temperatures are presented in tabular, graphical, and regression-equation form for each brine composition tested

Evaluation of wear rates and mechanisms of titanium diboride-graphite composite materials proposed for use as cathodes in Hall-Heroult cells

Purpose of this study was to measure the initial wear rates of TiB/sub 2/ carbon-containing cathode materials (TiB/sub 2/-G) under electrolytic conditions. Parameters evaluated included bath ratio, current density, and aluminum pad thickness. In order to measure initial wear rates, the tests were limited to 8 h

Geothermal chemistry in-line instrumentation

During Fiscal Years 1986 and 1987, Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) achieved several major milestones: (1) a Site Access Agreement with San Diego Gas and Electric Company was signed and since renewed for Fiscal Year 1987; (2) the PNL field laboratory was moved from East Mesa to the Heber Binary Plant; (3) a subcontract was let to a commercial supplier of pH probes to build advanced transistor-based pH sensors; (4) a field test determined response of the transistor-based pH probes to Heber brines; (5) a filter test was performed to look at scaling tendencies of the Heber plant brine if it were cooled below 150/sup 0/F; and (6) two prototype particle counters based on ultrasonic sound and a laser beam scattering were tested in the laboratory and subjected to one field test