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Title: The effect of dilution on the gas retention behavior of Tank 241-SY- 103 waste

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/192554· OSTI ID:192554

Twenty-five of the 177 underground waste storage tanks on the Hanford Site have been placed on the Flammable Gas watch list. These 25 tanks, containing high-level waste generated during plutonium and uranium processing, have been identified as potentially capable of accumulating flammable gases above the lower flammability limit (Babad et al. 1991). In the case of Tanks 241-SY-101 and 241-SY-103, it has been proposed that diluting the tank waste may mitigate this hazard (Hudson et al. 1995; Stewart et al. 1994). The effect of dilution on the ability of waste from Tank 241-SY-103 to accumulate gas was studied at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. A similar study has been completed for waste from Tank 241-SY-101 (Bredt et al. 1995). Because of the additional waste-storage volume available in Tank 241-SY-103 and because the waste is assumed to be similar to that currently in Tank 241-SY-101, Tank 241-SY-103 became the target for a demonstration of passive mitigation through in-tank dilution. In 1994, plans for the in-tank dilution demonstration were deferred pending a decision on whether to pursue dilution as a mitigation strategy. However, because Tank 241-SY-103 is an early retrieval target, determination of how waste properties vary with dilution will still be required.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC06-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
192554
Report Number(s):
PNL-10893; ON: DE96004519; TRN: 96:008230
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Jan 1996
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English