HIGH VOLUME-LOW PRESSURE NUCLEAR WASTE REMOVAL― THE SLUICING CONCEPT

摘要

Many concepts are under review for the cleaning of underground nuclear waste storage tanks. These tanks, which threaten populations throughout the U.S. and the world, are filled with varying materials that have radically different characteristics. Many of these tanks have been cleaned using the confined sluicing end effector developed jointly by PNNL, UMR, and Waterjet Technology Inc. While this proved to be effective, it was viewed as somewhat slower than might be possible with a more "brute force" attack. Toward this end, PNNL and UMR have run trials on high flow, low-pressure jets for removing this material. The paper will address some of the issues and problems discovered and comparative results of both submerged and non-submerged sluicing.