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Tank Waste Retrieval, Processing, and On-site Disposal at Three Department of Energy Sites: Final Report (2006)

Chapter: Appendix F Waste Retrieval Status

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Suggested Citation: "Appendix F Waste Retrieval Status." National Research Council. 2006. Tank Waste Retrieval, Processing, and On-site Disposal at Three Department of Energy Sites: Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11618.

Appendix F
Waste Retrieval Status

TABLE F-1 Status of Tank Waste Retrieval Operations at the Three Sites

Site	Tank Identifier	Nominal Tank Capacity (gallons)	Volume of the heel (gallons) (percentage of initial volume)	Radioactivity in the heel (percentage of initial radioactivity)	Residual Waste Retrieval Technology Used	Comments
Savannah River Site (51 tanks)	Tank 16^a	1.06 million	9.5 kg solids^a	830 Ci (30.7 TBq)	Water washing, chemical cleaning	Completed to the limit of technologies. Most of the radioactivity is due to insoluble strontium-90 inventory. The tank annulus requires additional cleaning.
	Tank 17^b	1.3 million	2,200 gallons sludge	2,400 Ci (89 TBq)	Water washing, Sluicing and pumping	Completed (closed)
	Tank 20^b	1.3 million	1,000 gallons sludge	500 Ci (18.5 TBq)	Sluicing and pumping	Completed (closed)
	Tank 18^b	1.3 million	4,300 gallons wet solids	27,600 Ci (1.02 PBq)	Sluicing and pumping	Completed. Most of the radioactivity is due to cesium-137 and barium-137 trapped in residual zeolites (46% of the heel volume and ~88% of the total curies). Strontium-90 and yttrium-90 make up another ~10% of the radioactivity
	Tank 19^b	1.3 million	15,100 gallons wet solids	96,000 Ci (3.6 PBq)	Sluicing and pumping	Most of the radioactivity is due to cesium-137 and barium-137 trapped in residual zeolites (66% of the heel volume and ~99% of the total radioactivity)
Hanford	C-106^c	530,000	2,768 gallons (370 cubic feet)	136,700 Ci (5.06 PBq)	Modified sluicing, oxalic acid dissolution	Completed to the limit of technologies. Most of the radioactivity is due to insoluble strontium-90 inventory
	C-203^d	55,000	138 gallons (18.5 cubic feet)	36 Ci (1.3 TBq)	Vacuum retrieval system	Completed
	C-202^e	55,000	147 gallons	Results not available	Vacuum retrieval system	Completed
	S-102^f	758,000	321,000 gallons (in progress)	Results not available	Modified sluicing, saltcake dissolution	Retrieval still under way

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Site	Tank Identifier	Nominal Tank Capacity (gallons)	Volume of the heel (gallons) (percentage of initial volume)	Radioactivity in the heel (percentage of initial radioactivity)	Residual Waste Retrieval Technology Used	Comments
Hanford	S-112^f	758,000	23,000 gallons	Results not available	Modified sluicing, saltcake dissolution, Salt Mantis	Retrieval complete to the limit of technology for modified sluicing and saltcake dissolution; additional technology (Salt Mantis) deployed, retrieval still in progress
Idaho^g	WM-180	300,000	7,600 gallons liquids^g 542 kg solids	1,047 Ci (38.7 TBq)	Pumping and water washing
	WM-181	300,000	7,300 gallons liquids^g 246 kg solids	475 Ci (17.6 TBq)	Pumping and water washing
	WM-182	300,000	6500 gallons liquids^g 1238 kg solids	2,394 Ci (88.6 TBq)	Pumping and water washing
	WM-183	300,000	8000 gallons liquids^g 702 kg solids	1,363 Ci (50.4 TBq)	Pumping and water washing
	WM-184	300,000	3100 gallons liquids^g 558 kg solids	1,077 Ci (39.8 TBq)	Pumping and water washing
	WM-185	300,000	5800 gallons liquids^g 720 kg solids	1,391 Ci + 3,850 Ci in the sandpad (194 TBq )	Pumping and water washing
	WM-186	300,000	6,600 gallons liquids^g 334 kg solids	646 Ci (23.9 TBq)	Pumping and water washing
	WM-103	30,000	19 kg solids	37 Ci (1.4 TBq)	Pumping and water washing	Conservative estimates of solids based on a biological film layer at the bottom of the tank
	WM-104	30,000	19 kg solids	37 Ci (1.4 TBq)	Pumping and water washing	Conservative estimates of solids based on a biological film layer at the bottom of the tank
	WM-105	30,000	19 kg solids	37 Ci (1.4 TBq)	Pumping and water washing	Conservative estimates of solids based on a biological film layer at the bottom of the tank
	WM-106	30,000	19 kg solids	37 Ci (1.4 TBq)	Pumping and water washing	Conservative estimates of solids based on a biological film layer at the bottom of the tank
NOTE: Only tanks that had most waste retrieved at the time of writing (December 2005) are shown; other tanks may be in process. The table has been fact-checked by the three sites. ^a Fowler, 1981. ^b DOE-SRS, 2005a. ^c Hewitt, and Sams, 2005. ^d Quintero, 2005b. ^e^. Quintero, 2005b. ^f Dodd, 2005. ^g DOE-ID, 2005a. ^h A volume of flush water is left in the tanks after the last wash cycle, to allow for sampling, keep any remaining solids in a state to allow further removal during the grouting phase, and allow enough volume to permit restart of the transfer jets during tank grouting. During the tank grouting phase,the transfer jets will be operated to remove the remaining liquid and whatever solid particles come with it.

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TABLE F-2 Summary of Main Waste Retrieval Tools in DOE’s Toolbox

Mobilization or Collection Technique	Tool Considered or Developed	Tool Tested	Tool Deployed
“Wet” technologies
Mixing or sluicing technologies
Low pressure (<1000 psi)			Slurry pumps (several SRS tanks); waterbrush (SRS Tank 17); Flygt Mixer (SRS Tanks 17 and 19); bladed agitators (several SRS tanks— small processing vessels); Advanced Design Mixer Pump (SRS Tank 18); Hanford C-103 Sluicer (Hanford Tank C-103); Hanford C-106 Sluicer (Hanford Tank C-106);washball or directional nozzle wash system (INL tanks)
Moderate pressure (1,000 < psi < 3,000)			Borehole miner (several ORNL tanks); water mouse (SRS Tank 17)
High-pressure (>3,000 psi)			Hydrolaser/hydrolance (SRS Tank 19); Salt Mantis (Hanford S-112); Confined Sluicing End Effector (CSEE; ORNL); bilateral sluicers (SRS Type I Tanks)
Pulsating mixing devices		AEA Technology Power Fluidics (cold tested at Hanford)
		Russian Pulsating Mixer Pump (PMP) (tested at PNNL and at ORNL)
Chemical cleaning
Using sluicing			Modified sluicing and acid dissolution (Hanford tank C-106)
Using mixers			Oxalic acid (SRS Tanks 16 and 24)
Dry or semidry technologies
Vacuum			Vacuum retrieval system (Hanford C-202, C-203, C-201)
Scarifier or grinder	Rail or pneumatic wheel-based systems used in the mining industry (never tested or deployed in DOE tanks); dry retrieval system (considered for Hanford Tank C-104 but never deployed)		Burnishing tool (deployed at West Valley); scarifier (deployed at ORNL using both the Houdini™ and the Modified Light Duty Utility Arm (MLDUA)
Mechanical conveyance systems
Deployment devices or delivery tools
Simple mast	Delphinus (never deployed)		Vacuum retrieval system (Hanford Tanks C-202, C-203, C-201), Mast Tool Delivery System (West Valley Tank 8D-1)
Multijoined arm	SRS Crawler (designed for deployment in SRS Tank 19 but never deployed), VAC TRAX (never deployed), Pit Hog (never deployed), ESG/LATA Trac-Pump (never deployed)	EMMA (tested for use at Fernald but never deployed), ReTRIEVR (tested for use at Fernald but never deployed), Tarzan (partially built for use at West Valley but never completed)	Light Duty Utility Arm (LDUA) and MLDUA (Oak Ridge)

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Mobilization or Collection Technique	Tool Considered or Developed	Tool Tested	Tool Deployed
In-tank vehicle		ARD (never deployed in a tank but used in SRS B-Area solvent tanks)	Houdini™ (deployed at ORNL), Scarab-3 (deployed at ORNL)
Combined systems
Vacuum plus in-tank vehicle		Mobile retrieval system (tested at the Hanford Cold Test Facility)
Scarifier plus in-tank vehicle	Grinding mechanism used in combination with the Delphinus arm		Scarifier deployed via Houdini™ (ORNL)
Vacuum plus surface system			Waste Dislodging and Conveyance System (deployed at ORNL)
NOTES: Some tools have been considered or developed in a laboratory setting. Some tools have been tested in a cold test facility. Some tools have been deployed in actual waste tanks (location in parenthesis). Deployment implies previous development and cold testing as well. Status indicates if and where device was deployed or tested. INL = Idaho National Laboratory; ORNL = Oak Ridge National Laboratory; PNNL = Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; SRS = Savannah River Site. SOURCES: Davis, 1998; Bogen et al., 1999; DOE-TFA, 2000a; Bamberger et al., 2001; Burks, 2005; DOE-SRS, 2005a.