Fuel Cycle Programs, Quarterly Progress Report: October-December 1982

An information base has been assembled for the future analysis of concepts for disposing of /sup 85/Kr, /sup 129/I, /sup 3/H, and /sup 14/C from the nuclear fuel cycle. A blanket processing program emphasizing tritium recovery and effective heat transfer is in progress. The current experiment designated TRIO-01 is designed to test the performance of a miniaturized solid breeder blanket assembly with continuous in situ recovery of tritium. The thermal-hydraulic response of solid breeder blankets and the tritium system problems associated with liquid metal blankets are being analyzed. Thermal-hydraulic analysis is also being supplied for the First Wall/Blanket/Shield Program. Tritium needs and systems required for both tokamak and mirror fusion reactors are being supplied. Work is being done on (1) the sealing properties of fresh and altered proposed backfill materials for high-level nuclear waste in the expected hydrothermal, high-radiation environments of repositories, (2) the extent to which radioactivity might move from a nuclear waste repository because of flowing groundwater, (3) the effects of dissolved organic acids on the partitioning of /sup 241/Am and /sup 237/Np between synthetic groundwater and crushed basalt, and (4) the partitioning of a small group of toxic phenol compounds between dolomite and water. Development and testingmore » of equipment for the destructive analysis of full-length irradiated fuel rods from the Light Water Breeder Reactor are in progress. Work has been done on: (1) the full-scale shear, (2) the dual dissolver system, (3) scrap and waste disposal, (4) the process control and data management system, and (5) analytical systems. Testing of simulated nuclear waste glasses is being done by exposing preleached Savannah River Laboratory type 131 glass to a second static leach test and by hydrating tektite glass meteorites and Pacific Northwest Laboratories type 76-68 glass in water vapor at elevated temperatures.« less