Plutonium dissolution process

A two-step process for dissolving Pu metal is disclosed in which two steps can be carried out sequentially or simultaneously. Pu metal is exposed to a first mixture of 1.0-1.67 M sulfamic acid and 0.0025-0.1 M fluoride, the mixture having been heated to 45-70 C. The mixture will dissolve a first portion of the Pu metal but leave a portion of the Pu in an oxide residue. Then, a mineral acid and additional fluoride are added to dissolve the residue. Alternatively, nitric acid between 0.05 and 0.067 M is added to the first mixture to dissolve the residue as it is produced. Hydrogen released during the dissolution is diluted with nitrogen

Citizen science reveals widespread negative effects of roads on amphibian distributions

Landscape structure is important for shaping the abundance and distribution of amphibians, but prior studies of landscape effects have been species or ecosystem-specific. Using a large-scale, citizen science-generated database, we examined the effects of habitat composition, road disturbance, and habitat split (i.e. the isolation of wetland from forest by intervening land use) on the distribution and richness of frogs and toads in the eastern and central United States. Undergraduates from nine biology and environmental science courses collated occupancy data and characterized landscape structure at 1617 sampling locations from the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program. Our analysis revealed that anuran species richness and individual species distributions were consistently constrained by both road density and traffic volume. In contrast, developed land around wetlands had small, or even positive effects on anuran species richness and distributions after controlling for road effects. Effects of upland habitat composition varied among species, and habitat split had only weak effects on species richness or individual species distributions. Mechanisms underlying road effects on amphibians involve direct mortality, behavioral barriers to movement, and reduction in the quality of roadside habitats. Our results suggest that the negative effects of roads on amphibians occur across broad geographic regions, affecting even common species, and they underscore the importance of developing effective strategies to mitigate the impacts of roads on amphibian populations

Canyon dissolution of sand, slag, and crucible residues

An alternative to the FB-Line scrap recovery dissolver was desired for the dissolution of sand, slag, and crucible (SS{ampersand}C) residues from the plutonium reduction process due to the potential generation of hydrogen gas concentrations above the lower flammability limit. To address this concern, a flowsheet was developed for the F-Canyon dissolvers. The dissolvers are continually purged with nominally 33 SCFM of air; therefore the generation of flammable gas concentrations should not be a concern. Following removal of crucible fragments, small batches of the remaining sand fines or slag chunks containing less than approximately 350 grams of plutonium can be dissolved using the center insert in each of the four annular dissolver ports to address nuclear criticality safety concerns. Complete dissolution of the sand fines and slag chunks was achieved in laboratory experiments by heating between 75 and 85 degrees Celsius in a 9.3M nitric acid/0.013M (hydrogen) fluoride solution. Under these conditions, the sand and slag samples dissolved between 1 and 3 hours. Complete dissolution of plutonium and calcium fluorides in the slag required adjusting the dissolver solution to 7.5 wt% aluminum nitrate nonahydrate (ANN). Once ANN was added to a dissolver solution, further dissolution of any plutonium oxide (PuO2) in successive charges was not practical due to complexation of the fluoride by aluminum. During the laboratory experiments, well mixed solutions were necessary to achieve rapid dissolution rates. When agitation was not provided, sand fines dissolved very slowly. Measurement of the hydrogen gas generation rate during dissolution of slag samples was used to estimate the amount of metal in the chunks. Depending upon the yield of the reduction, the values ranged between approximately 1 (good yield) and 20% (poor yield). Aging of the slag will reduce the potential for hydrogen generation as calcium metal oxidizes over time. The potential for excessive corrosion in the dissolvers was evaluated using experimental data reported in the literature. Corrosion data at the exact flowsheet conditions were not available; however, the corrosion rate for 304L stainless steel (wrought material) corrosion coupons in 10M nitric acid/0.01M hydrofluoric acid at 95 degrees Celsius was reported as 21 mils per year. If the fluoride in the dissolver is complexed with aluminum, the corrosion rate will decrease to approximately 5 mils per year