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Characterization of Solids in Residual Wastes from Underground Storage Tanks at the Hanford Site, Washington, U.S.A.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2011

Kenneth Michael Krupka ,
William J. Deutsch ,
H. Todd Schaef ,
Bruce W. Arey ,
Steve M. Heald ,
Michael J. Lindberg  and
Kirk J. Cantrell
Kenneth Michael Krupka
Affiliation:
Ken.Krupka@pnl.gov, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Environmental Technology, Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, Mail Stop K6-81, Richland, WA, 99352, United States, 509-376-4412, 509-376-5368
William J. Deutsch
Affiliation:
Bill.Deutsch@pnl.gov, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, United States
H. Todd Schaef
Affiliation:
todd.schaef@pnl.gov, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, United States
Bruce W. Arey
Affiliation:
bruce.arey@pnl.gov, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, United States
Steve M. Heald
Affiliation:
heald@aps.anl.gov, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, 60439, United States
Michael J. Lindberg
Affiliation:
Michael.Lindberg@pnl.gov, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, United States
Kirk J. Cantrell
Affiliation:
kirk.cantrell@pnl.gov, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, United States
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Abstract

Solid phase physical and chemical characterization methods have been used in an ongoing study of residual wastes from several single-shell underground waste tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State. Because these wastes are highly-radioactive dispersible powders and are chemically-complex assemblages of crystalline and amorphous solids that contain contaminants as discrete phases and/or co-precipitated within oxide phases, their detailed characterization offers an extraordinary technical challenge. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) are the two principal methods used, along with a limited series of analyses by synchrotron-based methods, to characterize solid phases and their contaminant associations in these wastes. Depending on the specific tank, numerous solids (e.g., èejkaite; Na2U2O7; clarkeite; gibbsite; böhmite; dawsonite; cancrinite; Fe oxides such as hematite, goethite, and maghemite; rhodochrosite; lindbergite; whewellite; nitratine; and several amorphous phases) have been identified in residual wastes studied to date. Because many contaminants of concern are heavy elements, SEM analysis using the backscattered electron (BSE) signal has proved invaluable in distinguishing phases containing elements, such as U and Hg, within the complex assemblage of particles that make up each waste. XRD, SEM/EDS, and synchrotron-based methods provide different, but complimentary characterization data about the morphologies, crystallinity, particle sizes, surface coatings, and compositions of phases in these wastes. The impact of these techniques is magnified when each is used in an iterative fashion to help interpret the results from the other analysis methods and identify additional, more focused analyses.

Keywords

waste managementscanning electron microscopy (SEM)x-ray diffraction (XRD)
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 985: Symposium NN – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXX , 2006 , 0985-NN03-18
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2007

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