Corrosion of low-carbon steel under environmental conditions at Hanford: Two-year soil corrosion test results

摘要

At the Hanford Site, located in southeastern Washington state, nuclear production reactors were operated from 1944 to 1970. The handling and processing of radioactive nuclear fuels produced a large volume of low-level nuclear wastes, chemical wastes, and a combination of the two (mixed wastes). These materials have historically been packaged in US Department of Transportation (DOT) approved drums made from low-carbon steel, then handled in one of three ways: (A) Before 1970, the drums were buried in the dry desert soil. It was assumed that chemical and radionuclide mobility would be low and that the isolated, government-owned site would provide sufficient protection for employees and the public. (B) After 1970, the drums containing long-lived transuranic radionuclides were protected from premature failure by stacking them in an ordered array on an asphalt concrete pad in the bottom of a burial trench. The array was then covered with a large, 0.28-mm- (011-in.-) thick polyethylene tarp and the trench was backfilled with 1.3 m (4 ft) of soil cover. This burial method is referred to as soil-shielded burial . Other configurations were also employed but the soil-shielded burial method contains most of the transuranic drums. (C) Since 1987, US Department of Energy sites have complied with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) regulations. These regulations require mixed waste drums to be stored in RCRA compliant large metal sheds with provisions for monitoring. These sheds are provided with forced ventilation but are not heated or cooled.