Disposal of Radioactive Waste on Land; Report (1957) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix A: History of the Committee
Appendix A: History of the Committee
Pages 8-149
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From page 8... ...
The Contractor shall furnish personnel, facilities, and equipment, and do all things necessary for the purpose of conducting a program of research pertinent to the methods of disposing of radioactive waste materials in geologic structures. The work shall consist of the following: a.
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J., on September 10-12. Participants were selected and invited, and those who accepted the invitation were sent a digest of the essential data entitled "Radioactive wastes in the atomic energy industry" compiled by A
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During and after the Geneva Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (July 1955) a great deal of heretofore classified information was released: the Princeton Conference benefited from the unexpected availability of data on chemical processing and nature of waste solutions pertinent to the conference topic.
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It was found generally that a great deal more specific information is available than was presented at the Conference but that the additional data do not simplify the problems nor point to possible solutions that had not been mentioned heretofore. The utilization of cavities in salt deposits for storage and disposal of wastes aroused considerable interest at the Conference so the location of the main salt mines and distribution of the principal salt deposits were documented by Mr.
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September 10-12, 1955 Graduate College, Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey
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Appendix B 13. CONTENTS September 10, 1955 Page Afternoon Session R
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We have called together a heterogeneous group of people from many different fields and disciplines with a cumulative total of a tremendous amount of experience. The main objective in this Conference, as far as the Division of Earth Sciences is concerned, is to generate and list ideas for the underground disposal of high level wastes.
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The Reactor Division is sponsoring the contracts with the National Academy of Sciences and Johns Hopkins University to evaluate problems connected with the disposal of high and low level radioactive wastes. At this conference we are confining our attention to disposal of the high level wastes, which in A.E.C.
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It seems inevitable that the industry will move toward more populated areas. Our discussions with representatives of industry make it evident that they envision building reactors and fuel processing plants near their markets.
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They have given us good advice: much of that advice indicates that we ought to consider further means of underground disposal. (Laughter)
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can start an evaluation of the problem that will lead to final and economic disposal of high level radioactive wastes. By final, I mean returning those wastes to nature in some place where they can be held for very, very long periods of time without jeopardy to our environment or property.
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Where it is important to note the value of detailed knowledge of the ocean floor and of the water column. We have in the last ten years acquired a very extensive history of the vertical stratification of water, but there are very few areas where the stations have been sufficiently close together, and the measurements made with sufficient precision to accurately bound the water mass and determine the rate of water exchange.
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From page 20... ...
Oceanographic and marine geological research indicates that suitable pockets of mud exist not far from shore on the Atlantic shelf, these would not involve deep sea operations, but might affect commercial fisheries, for example, those in the Gulf of Maine. The oceanographers are not in agreement on rates of exchange between surface and deep waters.
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Hubbert, because one of the points made by a small group of men was this: that the situation as far as monitoring is concerned has improved greatly. First of all, plastics have been developed which have low adsorption characteristics for fission products.
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The major radioactive waste problem at Hanford does not involve the waters of the Columbia River which is tapped for flow through the reactors, and is returned to the river to dissipate heat generated in the reactor. The radioactivity is negligible because the water is not recirculated and there is no concentration of activity; furthermore, there is no significant contamination by fuel elements from rupture.
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The high-level waste is being reprocessed after storage in tanks for a period of a year and a half to two years. After recovery, nickel ferrocyanide is used as a scavenging agent on the resultant wastes to remove two major fission products, cesium 137 and strontium 90.
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DR. CHRISTY: The nickel ferrocyanide forms "floe" and promotes sedimentation.
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The waste from one particular process has to be aged, mainly so that the recovery process will work. This process was developed for an aged waste, and then it was found that the nickel ferrocyanide could be used on this particular waste after recovery.
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Nickel ferrocyanide is a highly efficient scavenging agent.
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DR. GRIGGS: Could you say what final waste storage costs will be per gallon using self-concentration and nickel ferrocyanide.
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The mining of anything in these tanks became more difficult as time passes because it develops into fairly solid material. Our hope is to make use of the nickel ferrocyanide treatment and make self-concentration fully effective so that eventually we won't have to be too concerned about how long these tanks will last.
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From page 29... ...
In some cases a concrete cap is put on top of the crib area so no surface water can percolate down through this column of soil to absorb fission products. At Hanford we have a deep column of soil with excellent absorption qualities and we can dispose therefore of large quantities of low level waste as a routine procedure.
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DAVID T GRIGGS: There has been mention of longer life elements: does that refer to the fission products that were mentioned?
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It forms a minor fraction of the total fission product activity. CHAIRMAN HESS: Are there any other questions?
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The types of reactors and fuel purification processes are numerous and yield a varied assortment of waste solutions, each with somewhat different disposal characteristics. The relationship between the predicted optimum sizes of power reactors and fuel processing plants suggests that the most economical arrangement would be for one chemical plant to process the material from 5-15 reactors; this would localize the principal production of waste but require wellshielded transportation of fuel elements .)
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From page 33... ...
D., and Ullmann, J W., Processing requirements, buildup of fission product activity, and liquid radiochemical waste volumes in a predicted nuclear power economy, ORNL Central Files Number 56-1-162, January 30, 1956, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
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The total quantity of fission products accumulated at any time depends on the output of energy being produced by nuclear fission, how long the nuclear reactors have been operating, and other factors related to chemical processing of nuclear fuels.
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If we put these fission products in a tank and since they have an effective half-life reckoned in terms of hundreds of years, we or the people that come after us have to be concerned about that tank and its environment for a long time. In other words, as presently practiced, tank storage of high-level wastes is not actually disposing of these materials.
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From page 36... ...
This refers to the selective and essentially quantitative removal of the Cesium 137 and the Strontium 90 isotopes. If and when the "teeth" can be removed, practically and economically, from the mixtures of fission products, two different problems are created.
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Because of the restrictions of classification and because of certain detailed technological data that have not yet been pinned down, there may be at the moment a lack of clear definition. This does not, however, make the problem any less real or less serious.
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MR. LIEBERMAN: The wastes being put to the ground at Hanford are not moderately high level; I would say they are relatively low level wastes and the steps used in their disposal are being taken very slowly and cautiously.
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When field installation is made, only the volume of soil in the 30 by 30-foot column under the crib down to the water table is considered; the operators feel they are getting the benefit of a bigger volume as far as exchange capacity is concerned. It is known that an element like ruthenium will go right through the column, but it is also known that ruthenium has a half-life of one year and that the travel time of the water from the bottom of the crib to the Columbia River is of the order of magnitude of tens of years or hundreds of years.
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Relatively low level wastes are going to cribs at Hanford.
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You didn't find fission products in solution -- is that what you meant?
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I doubt that the present practice of discharging low-level wastes could be continued over the centuries, and wouldn't for a moment consider adopting this practice in a populous area. I feel the problem of waste-product disposal is far from solved.
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G LASKY: Why do you say that the test holes at the ground water table may not pick up any radioactive material?
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PIPER: Yes. The bottom of the mass is substantially above the water table.
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Near its margins you get into material of so low concentration that analytical methods are not sufficiently delicate to be sure of the total quantity of adsorbed fission products.
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When the possibility is considered of taking the liquid waste and putting it underground, the question arises of whether or not a reaction between the material injected and the minerals in the ground might immediately block all the
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From page 47... ...
If you dissolve stainless steel in nitric acid and inject it into an alkaline layer, the bed will plug with ferrous oxide, which would be hard to unplug. However, I suspect the chemical processing people could remove certain materials or the conditions of the systems adjusted so the waste could be injected.
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The sandstone is probably bounded above and below by clay stone, and the sandstone may be several hundred feet thick. If we inject into the thick, clean sandstone, there will be comparatively little ion exchange.
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The Hanford low level wastes are not typical of the wastes we are talking about.
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DR. LIEBERMAN: We have had experience in transporting solid fuel elements to a chemical processing plant, but the handling of the liquid waste from the chemical processing plant, assuming we want to put the waste in the ground, might determine the location of the process.
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We are trying to evolve a safe but economical design to get the maximum possible efficiency from pits. Since June 1952, we have put two and a quarter million gallons of intermediate level waste containing nearly 30,000 curies of activity into these pits.
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MR. MORTON: For the most part they are above the water table which varies in depth with the location and may fluctuate 5 or 6 feet.
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There has been loss by seepage but the exact amount is not known. In connection with these pits we have tried to collect data which will be of value in studies on high level waste disposal and on further use of pits for intermediate level wastes.
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S Geological Survey and our own workers are studying in detail the geologic structures and the hydrology at the sites which we propose to use for high level wastes disposal facilities.
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From page 55... ...
We suspect that it will break out but we feel that in dealing with intermediate or low level waste we should take advantage of the capacity of the soil so long as we don't get a breakout that is excessive of hazardous. CHAIRMAN HESS: We will now hear from Mr.
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From page 56... ...
This may be considered chemical processing in the sense that fission products having industrial and medical use may be of sufficient interest to recover. The critical isotopes are: Sr90, Y90, Sr89, y91 Cs137, Ba137, Ce144, Pr^44, Zr95, ^95, Ba140, La140, moApm^f.
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From page 57... ...
The mixture sinters at 1,050 degrees Fahrenheit; after 50 days, leach tests in tap and salt water showed that only Cesium 137 is leached. This was unusual in our experience, because the wastes in the present pits contain cesium, ruthenium, and strontium, but only ruthenium has moved through the shale.
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58. SUNDAY MORNING SESSION September 11, 1955 The meeting reconvened at 9:15 o'clock, Dr.
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59. TABLE I HEAT EXPERIMENT DATA Time (days)
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Johnson, who did these experiments, feels that these power requirements are conservative. He says that with reasonable insulation in the ground, and with a pit about 20 feet deep and 20 feet in diameter, one might be able to fuse this clay flux material.
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R ZUMWALT: I take it that this aluminum nitrate waste that you used in this experiment did not have the fission products in it.
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DR. HUBBERT: Isn't it probable the production of fission products is likely to keep pace with the development of the needs?
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For example: if you have an aqueous type of reactor and process it at the spot you would have high level waste right at the reactor site. On the other hand, with the heterogenous reactors, fuel elements can be shipped to the chemical processing plant.
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Some citizens object to having radioactive wastes hauled across their water supply.
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DR. ROEDDER: If you have disposal at just a few places you have to transport either the waste to those sites or you have to set up your processing plants at disposal sites.
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DR. MORTON: I don't have any specific data with regard to transportation of high level wastes, but our experiments with low or intermediate level lead us to think that transportation in a container is going to be uneconomic and not feasible for more than very short distances.
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Culler's paper concerning the transportation of liquid wastes. These figures are based upon the information concerning shipment of slugs throughout the United States.
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Remember that these calculations were on data obtained from the shipment of slugs, which are the only data available. There has been no shipment of liquid waste; possibly on a modified basis of 200 gallons in a container of 4 inches of lead shielding it would appear more economical.
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DR. CULLER: This particular waste is already saturated with aluminum, and the dry aluminum concentrate occupies the same volume as the wet solution.
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It has a higher potential of spillage than does a metal container, but you are not shipping thousands of gallons. In the homogeneous system you do not withdraw uranium; you withdraw fission products, and from the external core.
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From page 73... ...
We are working with practically all the power reactor groups in designs of chemical processing plants to purify reactor fuels. The variations are certainly complex: in the government reactor program there are about five kinds of reactors, and the A.E.G.
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From page 74... ...
The problem is not just to rid the fuel of the fission products, but also to process rapidly so as to minimize the inventory costs of fissionable uranium. It takes a lot of reactors to make it economical to run a chemical processing plant; but on the other hand, all of the different reactor plants must have some on-the-site purification in order to cut down the amount of idle uranium.
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From page 75... ...
There also will be a waste problem with us until the chemical processing and reactor treatments have been stabilized on a product that can be dealt with easily. But for the immediate future, extending to many years, wastes will constitute a serious problem.
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From page 76... ...
We decided on two premises for our discussions: one, that the disposal should be safe; and, two, that we would formulate basic principles governing disposal during what we hope will be orderly and rational development of the industry in the future. In order to obtain a clearer idea of the magnitude of the wastedisposal problem, the following calculation was made: Suppose that beginning in I960, nuclear power were produced at a rate equal to the present entire power output of the United States, and the waste products diluted to the extent of 50 gallons of water per gram of fission products, were injected underground into a sandstone 100 feet thick, having 20 percent porosity, what would be the area of the sand that would be filled with waste products by the year 2000?
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From page 77... ...
Since structural basins this size, or much larger, are abundant, it is concluded that the deep underground disposal of wastes for a long time to come would involve operations which are small as compared with those of the petroleum industry. The various other phases of the deep disposal question were discussed in considerable detail by the committee, and finally a subcommittee drew up a summary of the conclusions which were approved and read as follows: The committee has accepted as premises the following: A
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From page 78... ...
2. Until concentration in solid form becomes feasible, disposal of liquid wastes at relatively shallow depths may be possible under certain conditions .
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From page 79... ...
First: salt domes, salt beds, abandoned salt mines, and storage in cavities excavated in salt below the surface but not necessarily near the base of the local stratigraphic section. This would use an environment that has relatively wide distribution in the United States, both in coastal areas and at many places in the interior.
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From page 80... ...
The fifth and last category that was judged to be worthy of consideration was disposal in properly covered shale and clay pits on the surface. The consensus was that at the present state of knowledge, it is not a desirable means of disposing of high level wastes, but that it would be desirable to have continued research on base exchange and self-sealing characters in the hope that this method might become feasible for high-level waste in the future.
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From page 81... ...
81. possibilities indicated in this area might also have applicability in several other areas or methods of relatively shallow disposal.
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From page 82... ...
, sedimentary rock sequence of a continental shelf.
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From page 83... ...
Specific gravity of radioactive wastes ranges from 1.1 to 1.3, and the more general types are about 1.20-1.25. (Lindsey)
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From page 84... ...
4.1 Inspection of "Tectonic Map of the United States" disclosed that there are numerous large basins scattered across the country, many of which are known to contain brine-bearing strata at depth; some are not sufficiently well known to be sure of the nature of the deep waters but they may be freshwater bearing. Basins of Major brine-bearing basins uncertain potability Michigan Basin Denver Basin, Colo.
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From page 85... ...
The Gulf Coastal Plain appears less unfavorable than the Atlantic: here there are tens of thousands of feet of brinebearing sediments dipping Gulfward. However, in many of these very high abnormal pressures (as much as 10,000 feet of anomalous head)
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From page 86... ...
In a submarine aquifer the contact between fresh and salt water may be far off shore, as shown by fresh water wells and springs; might radioactive wastes escape to ocean from leaks in the aquifer?
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From page 87... ...
Waste solutions could be made light for sequestering in anticlines but there are important objections: leaks would be upward, toward the biologic environment, and toward zones of potable water and possible oil; anticlines are generally small; the oil industry already occupies a great number of anticlines making for competition with disposal installations, an added difficulty for AEC which is unnecessary in view of the abundance of basins. (Hubbert)
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From page 88... ...
12. In order to obtain a clearer idea of the magnitude of the wastedisposal problem, the following calculation was made: Suppose that beginning in I960, nuclear power were produced at a rate equal to the present entire power output of the United States, and the waste products, diluted to the extent of 50 gallons of water per gram of fission products, were injected underground into a sandstone 100 feet thick, having 20 percent porosity, what would be the area of the sand that would be filled with waste products by the year 2000?
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From page 89... ...
89. The possibility should be considered that some or all of the fission products may tend to be captured by the clays and other mineral components of the reservoir rock near the well bore and hence create an undesirable local "hot-spot." This contingency needs prior investigation in order that it may be avoided.
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90. It is concluded that these general principles should guide the selection of methods of disposal: 1.
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The estimate of 1,000 gallons of waste per day for a one megawatt reactor was used as a yardstick for all the following discussions.
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From page 92... ...
Apparently this cannot be answered at the present time. Current wastes are high in aluminum salts, which might be useful in selfsealing, but power reactors will undoubtedly have wastes high in zirconium or stainless steel.
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93. I never saw a quarry that was water tight.
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They are not worth considering unless the waste can be permanently immobilized in a solid form.
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From page 95... ...
Adsorption by the clay minerals seems to show signs of promise, but in the ground this reaction is reversible and therefore not reliable as a "sealing" method. Long monitoring of low-level wastes may give valuable data on these problems.
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From page 96... ...
Is there a geologist present who knows of a clay deposit ten feet thick, without bedding planes and fractures? (No volunteers)
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From page 97... ...
B Beds above the water table.
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From page 98... ...
98. where the test could be monitored effectively.
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From page 99... ...
(1) Shallow mines are similar to caverns in that most are wet and even the dry ones would probably leak if filled with liquid wastes.
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From page 100... ...
Solution cavities in salt are probably the most promising sites for relatively shallow disposal of liquid wastes. Both bedded salt and salt domes are possible, although bedded salt would have more problems, such as the greater difficulty of controlling the size and shape of the cavity and the additional testing of the roof and floor rocks .
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From page 101... ...
Solution cavities in salt domes are probably the best potential sites for the disposal of liquid wastes at shallow depths. Cavities in salt beds are also good potential sites, but must be viewed with more caution.
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From page 102... ...
Salt domes can be written off as economically worthless because of huge amounts of salt available. Salt has twice the heat conductivity of soil, and a melting point of 800° C
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From page 103... ...
However, there is an enormous calculation on heat to be made. I'm lukewarm on salt beds but not on salt domes.
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From page 104... ...
J T., Atomic Energy Commission, Hanford Project, Richland, Washington Clark, Mr.
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Joseph A., Sanitary Engineer, Atomic Energy Commission, Washington 25, D
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Wilton J , Production Division, Atomic Energy Commission, Washington 25, D
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From page 107... ...
Russell, ex officio Chairman, Division of Earth Sciences, NAS-NRC M
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From page 108... ...
108. APPENDIX F DISPOSAL OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN SALT CAVITIES Report prepared for the Committee on Waste Disposal in Geologic Structures by William B
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From page 109... ...
Production of Salt in the United States 121 5. Mining of Rock Salt 123 6.
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From page 110... ...
110. ILLUSTRATIONS Page FIGURE 1 - Location of the Principal Deposits of Rock Salt in the United States 114 FIGURE 2 - Area in New York Underlain by Salt 115 FIGURE 3 - Area in Pennsylvania Underlain by Salt 116 FIGURE 4 - Area in Ohio Underlain by Salt 118 FIGURE 5 - Area in Michigan Underlain by Salt 120 FIGURE 6 - Area in Texas and New Mexico Underlain by Salt 122 FIGURE 7 - Installed Capacity of Electric Utility Generating Plants - United States - 1920-1954 130 TABLE I - Salt - Production by States - 1953 Short Tons 124 TABLE II - Rock Salt - Estimated Production by States 1953 - Short Tons 127
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From page 111... ...
DISPOSAL OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN SALT CAVITIES 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 One of the possibilities for the disposal of radioactive waste products derived from the operation of nuclear power plants is its underground storage in space formed within deposits of rock salt.
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From page 112... ...
2. CHARACTERISTICS OF SALT DEPOSITS 2.1 Rock salt in its crystalline form is the mineral halite (NaCl; sodium 39.4, chlorine 60.6%)
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From page 113... ...
They underlie many thousand square miles extending from the outcrop downward to depths of more than 5,000 feet. Figure 1 shows the location of the principal deposits of rock salt in the United States.
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From page 116... ...
lie s =• p 2 8 o ID O
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From page 117... ...
Brine is found in several other formations.'"' In the southeastern part of the state, along the Detroit River, the aggregate thickness of rock salt is from 200 to 500 feet. The thickness increases northwestward into the basin.
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From page 119... ...
Exploratory drilling has proved the existence of a large number of salt domes and, on the basis of geophysical evidence, it is thought that salt forms the core of others. In northern Louisiana, southern Arkansas and east Texas, bedded rock salt of Jurassic (or Permian)
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From page 121... ...
Rock salt is found in beds of Permian age belonging to the Upper Castile formation, with an evaporite section ranging in thickness from 0 to about 3500 feet. In part of the area a zone of potash salts is present which has been extensively developed near Carlsbad, New Mexico.
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From page 122... ...
I22 j" i h i i i1 i MILE9 o 10 zo so 40 so APPROXIMATE BOUNDARY OF PERMIAN SALT DEPOSITION FIG.6-AREA IN NEW MEXICO AND WEST TEXAS UNDERLAIN BY SALT-BEARING FORMATIONS
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From page 123... ...
The amounts of rock salt and salt in brine produced are estimated but are reasonably accurate approximations, 5. MINING OF ROCK SALT 5.1 Rock salt was mined at fourteen localities in the United States in 1953.
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From page 125... ...
The top of this lower bed is exposed in one of the mine workings. 5 .4 In Kansas, three rock salt mines are now operated.^"' The Carey Salt Company operates a mine near Hutchison through a shaft 645' deep.
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From page 126... ...
At the Jefferson Island salt dome, where the mine is operated by the Morton Salt Company, a circular shaft has been sunk to a depth of 900'. Myles Salt Company produces salt at the Weeks Island salt dome from a shaft reported to be 645' in depth.
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From page 127... ...
127. TABLE II ROCK SALT ESTIMATED PRODUCTION BY STATES - 1953 - Short Tons Equivalent Ave.
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From page 128... ...
( "' In nuclear reactors, the fission of one gram of U produces about 1 gram of fission products. The fission products are, in part, gaseous and, in part, in liquid or solid form, depending upon the fuel used.
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From page 129... ...
If the waste from the reactor is in solid form and included in the spent fuel elements, the waste is separated from the unconsumed uranium and plutonium in a chemical processing plant, in which the solids are dissolved and the waste thereafter separated by one of sev(2l\ eral methods.v ' 6.4 Natural uranium contains one part of fissionable U in 139 parts of fertile U ®. Thus, if natural uranium is used as a fuel, it is possible to consume U "5 both to support the chain reaction and to give excess neutrons which, when captured in U^38, will produce plutonium 239.
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From page 130... ...
I30 1 FIG.7- INSTALLED CAPACITY OF ELECTRIC UTILITY GENERATING PLANTS- UNITED STATES I920-I954 After J.A.
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From page 131... ...
7.4 It has also been estimated that 50% of the installed capacity in 2000 will be nuclear plants.' '' Using these figures, the following table has been constructed: Thermal capacity utility plants Electrical capacity utility plants Electrical proElectrical duction production kw Thermal capacity nuclear plants Electrical capacity nuclear plants mw mw kw years hours mw mw 1956 460, 000 115, 000 6.
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From page 132... ...
The characteristics of the liquid waste are determined by the particular method of chemical processing used. Wastes resulting from the operation of nuclear reactors are classified as highlevel wastes.
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From page 133... ...
8.7 Depending upon the concentration of fission products in the waste, the power produced per unit of fuel charged to the reactor, and the decay cooling time, fission products in the waste will produce heat at the rate of about 1 to 3 Btu/gal/hr.' ' This rate of heat production would be sufficient to raise high-level waste above the boiling point in a few days. In storage of waste underground in liquid form, it would therefore be necessary to provide means for cooling the waste and removing the heat, unless the waste were greatly diluted.
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From page 134... ...
11.2 The salt deposits of the north central states, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan, are adjacent to the Great Lakes and lie in part beneath these bodies of water. It is possible in this region to use water transportation for the movement of spent fuel to a processing plant from points as far separated as New York City on the east to Chicago or Duluth on the west.
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From page 135... ...
12. UTILIZATION OF SALT SPACE FOR WASTE DISPOSAL 12.1 The storage of radioactive waste in properly located space obtained by the mining out of rock salt has many advantages as compared with other methods of disposal.
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From page 136... ...
13. PROBLEMS OF UTILIZATION OF MINED-OUT SPACE 13.1 The storage of high-level radioactive waste in underground salt space presents several problems of an engineering character.
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From page 137... ...
13.7 It is feasible to excavate in underground salt deposits reservoirs that are adequate to contain the volumes of liquid waste that are contemplated in a program of development of nuclear power. However, the waste stored in such reservoirs would soon, from its own energy, rise in temperature to the boiling point, creating an additional hazard of production of radioactive vapor.
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From page 138... ...
13.8 The fixation of the liquid waste in some solid form after cooling and prior to underground disposal would be advantageous as regards both transportation and storage. Various methods of conversion of waste to solid form have been suggested and some of these have been carried through the stage of pilot plant operations.
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From page 139... ...
c. The development of suitable conveyors and other devices for the underground transportation and disposal of waste in solid form; d.
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From page 140... ...
C., Mechanics of formation of salt domes with special reference to Gulf Coast salt domes of Texas and Louisiana: Am. Assoc.
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From page 141... ...
Morgan, Jr., Radioactive wastes in the atomic energy industry; the problem of disposing of high level waste, Appendix 2, p. 24: The Johns Hopkins University, p.
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From page 142... ...
, Radioactive wastes at the Savannah River plant, p. 40: In Report of meeting on ocean disposal of reactor wastes held at Woods Hole, Mass., Aug.
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From page 143... ...
They include representatives nominated by the major scientific and technical societies, representatives of the Federal Government, and a number of members at-large. More than 3000 of the foremost scientists of the country cooperate in the work of the Academy-Research Council through service on its many boards and committees in the various fields of the natural sciences, including physics, astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, geology, engineering, biology, agriculture, the medical sciences, psychology, and anthropology.
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