Oak Ridge National Laboratory Old Hydrofracture Facility Waste Remediation Using211 the Borehole-Miner Extendible-Nozzle Sluicer

摘要

A borehole-miner extendible-nozzle sluicing system was designed, constructed, and211u001edeployed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to remediate five horizontal 211u001eunderground storage tanks containing sludge and supernate at the ORNL Old 211u001eHydrofracture Facility site. The tanks were remediated in fiscal year 1998 to 211u001eremove (approximately)98% of the waste, (approximately)3% greater than the target 211u001eremoval of >95% of the waste. The tanks contained up to 18 in. of sludge 211u001ecovered by supernate. The 42,000 gal of low level liquid waste were estimated to 211u001econtain 30,000 Ci, with 97% of this total located in the sludge. The retrieval 211u001ewas successful. At the completion of the remediation, the State of Tennessee 211u001eDepartment of Environment and Conservation agreed that the tanks were cleaned to 211u001ethe maximum extent practicable using pumping technology. This deployment was the 211u001efirst radioactive demonstration of the borehole-miner extendible-nozzle water-211u001ejetting system. The extendible nozzle is based on existing borehole-miner 211u001etechnology used to fracture and dislodge ore deposits in mines. Typically 211u001eborehole-miner technology includes both dislodging and retrieval capabilities. 211u001eBoth dislodging, using the extendible-nozzle water-jetting system, and retrieval, 211u001eusing a jet pump located at the base of the mast, are deployed as an integrated 211u001esystem through one borehole or riser. Note that the extendible-nozzle system for 211u001eOak Ridge remediation only incorporated the dislodging capability; the retrieval 211u001epump was deployed through a separate riser. The borehole-miner development and 211u001edeployment is part of the Retrieval Process Development and Enhancements project 211u001eunder the direction of the US Department of Energy's EM-50 Tanks Focus Area. This 211u001edevelopment and deployment was conducted as a partnership between RPD and E and 211u001ethe Oak Ridge National Laboratory's US DOE EM040 Old Hydrofracture Facility 211u001eremediation project team.