This issue's "Spotlight on the focus areas" highlights selected technologies being demonstrated and presented for review by technology users and stakeholders.
The National Liquid Blaster Corporation has provided a high pressure pump to the Hydraulic Testbed at DOE's Hanford Site in Richland, Washington to test a tank waste retrieval method. During tests of the confined sluicing end effectors, the pump will power rotating spray nozzles, or sluicers, directed at tank sludge to dilute and mobilize the waste for eventual transport from the tanks through transfer lines. This method of dislodging sludge and removing it from tanks is planned for DOE's Oak Ridge Site tank cleanup.
In November 1995, the public toured the Plasma Hearth Process facility at Argonne-Westin Idaho Falls, Idaho. During the tour, citizens raised questions about mechanical malfunction and backup systems, but they did not express concerns about the high temperatures used by the technology. For more information on the Plasma Heath Process (see the related article).
Regulators, stakeholders, and potential users from private industry saw the In Well Vapor Stripping technology in action during an open house at Edwards Air Force Base in California in December 1995. This technology removes volatile organic compounds from soil and ground water without pumping ground water to the surface. Using a combination of air-lift pumping and aeration with a borehole, rising air bubbles strip dissolved contaminants from the water and carry them in a vapor stream to the surface where they are treated. PFA developed this technology in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense, Stanford University, and http://www.pnl.gov:2080Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Decontamination & decommissioning focus area
In December's "Spotlight on the focus areas," it was announced the Chicago Pile 5 test reactor at Argonne-East would serve as a site for a large-scale demonstration of D&D technologies. The first step in the decommissioning of the Chicago Pile 5 test reactor has begun by reviewing potential D&D technologies for demonstration at the facility. The selection team developed a standardized set of criteria for assessing D&D technologies. The first technologies will be demonstrated during the second quarter of FY96.
The Pipe Explorer System was field tested at the Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute, a DOE-owned facility at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Pipe Explorer was used to perform five video inspections, two gamma characterizations, and three beta characterizations totaling approximately 1,200 linear feet of membrane deployment. For more information about Pipe Explorer, see related article.
Plutonium stabilization and immobilization focus area
DOE's Office of Environmental Management now has a sixth focus area. For more information, see related article.
The Robotics Technology Development Program will support the D&D focus area in the decommissioning of the CP-5 reactor. RTDP will conduct cost/benefit analyses, develop mockups, simulate and develop end-effectors, and conduct dismantlement feasibility experiments. RTDP will model the CP-5 reactor, robots, and tools. To develop appropriate tools, task plans, work prioritization, and estimated task times, RTDP will simulate disassembly of portions of the reactor.
In conducting cost/benefit analyses for methods and tools, RTDP will monitor factors such as time, radiation exposure of operators and equipment, and operator energy expenditures. Cost models will be developed to assign an appropriate cost to each dismantlement method. By developing a good correlation between simulation and real operations, the robotics crosscutting area will be able to reasonably extrapolate those portions of the CP-5 reactor project that will not be mocked-up.
Characterization, monitoring, and sensor crosscutting program A new sensor system for detection of trichloroethylene (TCE) in air was field tested at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City in December to monitor the air stream in a water treatment process. The system uses a laptop computer running a Windows-based program for data analysis and system operation. Field results on the untreated air stream indicated around 10 parts per million TCE. Results on the air stream after the activated carbon bed treatment indicated concentrations well below 500 parts per billion. (the level at which activated carbon needs to be regenerated) Real-time monitoring of the adsorber bed would result in significant savings over the baseline practice of regeneration every four days. The TCE sensor system was developed by Sandia National Laboratories, in partnership with Nomadics, Inc. For more information, call Greg Frye, Sandia National Laboratories, (505) 844-0787.
Efficient separations and processing crosscutting program
On January 16-19 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, ESP sponsored a meeting for the free exchange of ideas among separation technology developers and potential users. Developers described technologies and testing activities funded by ESP. Focus area representatives presented technology needs. Attendees included DOE staff, government contractors, and university and ESP industrial subcontractors. ESP is currently funding about 27 projects in national laboratories, six international projects, and eight projects that won Small Business Innovative Research awards.
