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Russia
There are no active projects in the area of Mixed Waste Processing. Past projects include: In 1996, a project was initiated with KRI to investigate low-temperature Iron-Phosphate Ceramics for solidification of mixed low-level waste. Successful demonstrations on actual waste were conducted in September 1997 and in August 1998, which reduced leeching to acceptable levels. Performance data from these tests was compiled and a final report was issued. A U.S. patent application that includes both U.S. and Russian specialists as co-developers is in process.
Plasmatron with Induction Cold Crucible Melter (PICCM) In 1995, The Institute of Chemical Technology was tasked by EM to build a plasmatron with induction cold crucible melter on a pilot scale. The unit was constructed and tested in Russia and then shipped to the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Non-radioactive tests were conducted with the melter in 1996. In 1998, the PICCM melter was transferred to Mississippi State University’s Diagnostic Analysis Laboratory (DIAL) where further testing has been conducted under an EM University Programs grant to DIAL. Current testing will evaluate the melter for the solidification of spent fuel. This is one of the first JCCEM projects for which patent protection was filed. Two separate patents were issued by the U.S. Patent Office in 1998. __________________________________________ Contact: Jenya Macheret, DOE-ID , 208/526-2708
Since 1995, the Tank Focus Area (TFA) has been working with specialists from various Russian institutes to share common experiences with tank operations and technologies. Over two years of technology development workshops, TFA contracted a Russian team from the Integrated Mining Chemical Combine at Krasnoyarsk, the Institute of Physical Chemistry, and Radiochemservice joint stock company to build a pulsating pump and pulsating monitor for demonstration in a quarter scale tank at PNNL, which was conducted in July 1997. Preliminary results are extremely promising. The Russians have already emptied two of their tanks with this technology and anticipate production scale deployment. Discussions are underway with regard to applicability of this equipment to the Savannah River salt cakes.
Sludge Dissolution and Chemical Cleaning of Tanks with the Use of Oxalic Acid and Other Chemicals A project was initiated with Khlopin Radium Institute and the Mining Chemical Combine in June 1998 to investigate the use of oxalic acid as a chemical cleaning agent to remove the hardened sludge "heel" that is left in the tanks after removable sludge has been pumped out. Now in its second phase, current activities on this project are centered on developing the nuclear criticality safety basis for this process, including effectiveness on Savannah River sludges, compatibility with carbon steel tanks, and assurance that the decontamination solution can be re-adjusted to an alkaline storage condition.
Russian Pulsating Mixer Pump
Tank Cleaning _______________________________________ Contact: Kurt Gerdes, EM-53, 301/903-7289
In an effort to transfer the wealth of D&D experience within the Russian nuclear complex to DOE site needs, six small-scale projects were initiated in March 1999 for Russian D&D technology users to evaluate their best commercially available technologies against DOE site needs. The Mayak Production Association, the Siberian Chemical Combine, the Mining and Chemical Combine, the Urals Electrochemical Combine, the All-Russian Planning Research and Technological Association (VNIPIET), and the Research and Production Association (NIKIMT) are all participating in this technology evaluation process. These organizations will provide technology summaries to the D&D Focus Area for further evaluation using the criteria for the Large Scale Demonstration and Deployment Projects. By July 1999, the D&D Focus Area hopes to identify a few Russian technologies for inclusion in the Large Scale Demonstration and Deployment Projects in Fiscal Year 2000. ______________________________________ Contact: Jerry Hyde, EM-53, 301/903-7914
The Pu Focus Area is currently funding the Khlopin Radium Institute and the Mining Chemical Combine for the testing and development of a promising technology for the solidification of liquid waste at room temperature. A porous, crystalline sponge, nicknamed "GUPKA," is being studied for possible application to Savannah River waste. A shipment of "GUPKA" was delivered to the Idaho National Environmental Engineering Laboratory in March 1999, and joint testing and demonstration will be conducted in June 1999 on actual waste. Khlopin Radium Institute received a small amount of funding from the Pu Focus Area to further evaluate the application of Iron Phosphate Ceramics to Plutonium bearing waste streams. It is expected that the final report will make recommendations as to the cost and level of effort needed to further develop this technology. This project is an outgrowth of a previously funded FY1998 project entitled Radiolytic gas generation in chemically bonded iron-phosphate matrices formed by the cold ceramic immobilization of transuranic ash residue waste. It was determined that this waste form meets the requirements of Waste Isolation Pilot Plant transportation criteria. A final report was issued in July 1998. In FY1999, the Khlopin Radium Institute also began work on the project entitled Innovative High-Frequency (HF) Plasma Conversion of Plutonium Residue Solutions to Solids. This task will provide a preliminary evaluation of applicability and feasibility of Russian technology to convert and stabilize plutonium residue solutions using innovative Russian high-frequency plasma technology. This project will determine impacts of solution composition, plasma operating conditions and product characteristics. Most of the testing will be carried out in Russia with joint Russian/U.S. evaluation and diagnostics of the test results. U.S. scientists will work with the Russian scientists to establish a test system at the Argonne National Laboratory-West for a complementary test program. The Pu Focus Area began funding a project entitled, Plutonium Immobilization in Silica Gel from Liquid Waste by means of High Temperature Adsorption in 1997. This technology has been demonstrated in Russia to immobilize Pu from liquid waste by means of high-temperature adsorption. A final report was issued in August 1998. A study of the Synthesis and thermodynamics of super stable crystalline matrices for stabilization and immobilization of plutonium bearing waste, was completed in August 1998. This project studied the long term stability of Plutonium bearing waste and high level waste. The final report was made available to the Los Alamos National Laboratory Basic Research division. A pilot scale project was conducted in FY1999 to evaluate a Plasma Denitration of Plutonium technology, which was developed by the Mining Chemical Combine and Khlopin Radium Institute. A final report was issued in December 1998. ______________________________________ Contact: Bill Scott, DOE-ID, 208/526-8189
Forty-nine technology development workshops have been held since February 1992. These exchanges benefit the focus areas by bringing together experts from the only other country with sites similar to DOE’s. Through this program, the world’s leading technical experts cooperate on the most difficult environmental technology problems. Four Russian graduate students from the Chelyabinsk region were employed as EM research assistants at INEEL for both DOE and contractors while enrolled at Idaho State University during the academic year. All four graduate students completed their course work and were granted Masters degrees in 1997.
EM is sponsoring a Russian post-doctoral researcher at the Seaborg Institute in Berkeley, California, to perform research in the area of separations technologies. _______________________________________ Contact: Kurt Gerdes, EM-53, 301/903-7289
The commitment to protect intellectual property is a cornerstone of the Russian program. Non-Disclosure agreements are signed for each contract to protect ownership of previously developed intellectual property. In addition, principal investigators are contractually obligated to notify the JCCEM when new or novel knowledge is developed under the auspices of JCCEM contracts so that issues of intellectual property rights can be addressed immediately. Historically, it had been DOE procedure to file a U.S. patent on behalf of the Russian owners for intellectual property which has been determined to have commercial potential. Three patents have already been granted under the JCCEM program: Removal of Dissolved Actinides from Alkaline Solutions by the Method of Appearing Reagents, N.N. Krot and R.A. Charushnikova. Processing of Solid Mixed Waste Containing Radioactive and Hazardous Materials, V.T. Gotochikov, E.A. Filippov, and A.V. Ivanov. Apparatus for Processing of Solid Mixed Waste Containing Radioactive and Hazardous Materials, V.T. Gotochikov, E.A. Filippov, and A.V. Ivanov. One additional patent application has been filed: Iron Phosphate Bonded Ceramics for Solidification of Mixed Low-Level Waste, A. Aloy, E. Kovarkskaya, T. Koltsova, and P. Medvedev. Two additional patent applications are currently being prepared: New Solvent for the Simultaneous Recovery of Radionuclides from Liquid Radioactive Wastes, V. Romanovsky, I. Smirnov, and V. Babain. New Extraction Processes and Solvents for the Recovery of Cesium, Strontium, Rare Earth Elements, Technetium, and Actinides from Liquid Radioactive Wastes, B. Zaitsev, V. Esimantovsky, L. Lazarev, V. Romanovsky, and E. Dzekun. As additional technologies mature, the JCCEM is in the process of re-evaluating the best way to protect intellectual property rights developed under the Memorandum of Cooperation. When DOE collaborates with Russian Institutes on projects conducted under the auspices of this international agreement, DOE retains ownership of the patent with an agreement to share 50% of the royalties from licensing fees with their Russian partners, and retain 50% for itself or its contractors. This method overcomes some of the institutional and structural difficulties that Russian Institutes face when trying to enter the U.S. market.
A JCCEM Internet Home Page has been developed to improve Russian and U.S. scientist’s access to information about activities conducted under the agreement. Khlopin Radium Institute is the Russian coordinator for content on the Web site, including text, photographs, and other graphic data about the JCCEM. MINATOM retains authority to approve content for the site. The address for the JCCEM Internet Home Page is:
Ukraine Pioneer Pioneer, a state-of-the-art robot based on a design developed with funding from DOE’s Office of Science and Technology, began work at the Chernobyl accident site in Ukraine in early Spring 1998. The robot is based on a design by RedZone Robotics named Houdini, which was funded through the Federal Energy Technology Center’s Industry Program, and is currently being used at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to retrieve radioactive sludge and debris from an underground storage tank. Pioneer was built by a team of scientists from the National Air and Space Administration (NASA), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, PNNL, RedZone Robotics, Westinghouse, Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute and its National Robotics Engineering Consortium, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the NASA/Ames Research Center. Pioneer will be commissioned to assess structural damage to the concrete shell, called the shelter, which was hurriedly built around the reactor after the Chernobyl accident which occurred in 1986. The shelter is now cracked. Information on radioactive hot spots and structural damage gathered by Pioneer will be used to determine cleanup strategies. The robot measures three feet long by 3.3 feet high. ________________________________________________ Contact: Kurt Gerdes, Industry Programs, 301/903-7289
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