Estimation of plutonium in Hanford Site waste tanks based on historical records

摘要

An estimation of plutonium in the Hanford Site waste storage tanks is important to nuclear criticality concerns. A reasonable approach for estimating the plutonium in the tanks can be established by considering the recovery efficiency of the chemical separation plants on the plutonium produced in the Hanford reactors. The waste loss from the separation processes represents the bulk of the plutonium in the waste tanks. The lesser contributor of plutonium to the waste tanks was the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP). When the PFP waste is added to the plutonium waste from separations, the result is the total estimated amount of plutonium discharged to the waste tanks at the Hanford Site. This estimate is for criticality concerns, and therefore is based on conservative assumptions (giving higher plutonium values). The estimate has been calculated to be (approx)981 kg of plutonium in the single- and double-shell high-level waste tanks.