Science and Innovation
Environmental Stewardship - Nuclear Materials Storage, Processing, and Transportation

SRNL designs, develops, and tests processes, flow sheets, and equipment to support excess nuclear material storage, processing, and transportation. This core competency includes qualification and validation of ongoing operational processes, development and demonstration of next-generation technology options, program analysis, and troubleshooting of process operations.

Associated SRNL competencies and capabilities include:

Extended Wet Storage of Used Fuel and Placement in Extended Dry Storage

• Leader in corrosion evaluation of fuel in pools and radioactive waste storage tanks (including development of chemistry control programs to mitigate corrosion)
• Development of dry storage criteria and drying process for fuel and fuel debris

Repair of Leaks in Reactor Building for Stable
Closed-loop Cooling

• Development, adaptation, and deployment of equipment, materials, and processes for remote repair of radioactive tanks, piping, and reactor vessels
• Integration of commercial off-the-shelf technology with in-house designs to develop cost-effective, field-deployable solutions for inspections, radiological surveys, repairs, and modifications in buildings, tanks, and piping systems

Removal, Packaging, and Storage of Damaged Fuel and Debris

• Packaging and underwater storage of damaged reactor fuel and debris in special oversized containers with “J-tube” feature to control gas release and to meet safety functions of confinement, criticality safety, retrievability, and thermal control
• Development and deployment of in-pool portable, skid-mounted system (pumps, filters and ion-exchange resin column systems) to clean up the water in the spent fuel pools

Remote Monitoring, Characterization, and Handling

• Full system integration (remote operations/control, data acquisition, component interface) for system deployment in a radiological environment
• Development of radiation monitoring and mapping technologies (RadmapperTM and GrayQbTM) to locate, identify, and generate maps of radioactive contamination in outdoor and enclosed areas

Reprocessing and Treatment of Fuel and Fuel Debris

• Spent fuel and nuclear materials reprocessing flow-sheet development, testing of processes, implementation of processes in H-Canyon/HB Line or portable systems
• Stabilization treatments, including waste form development and fabrication for fuel, fuel debris, and reprocessing waste streams
• Fabricate surplus plutonium into fuel at Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility

Nuclear Materials Packaging for Transportation

Nuclear Materials Package Testing

• Certify Safety Analysis Reporting Packages for transportation containers to ship nuclear material from legacy sites to processing or long-term storage sites.
• Maintain certification of the 9975 and 9977 packages for DOE, NNSA, and NRC
• The Docket Manager of the DOE Packaging Certification Program resides in SRNL and provides technical support services to the DOE Office of Environmental Management, Manager, DOE Packaging Certification Program, Office of Packaging and Transportation.