A Peer Review of the Strategy for Characterizing Ransuranics and Technetium Contamination in Uranium Hexafluoride Tails Cylinders

This document provides the findings from a peer review of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Hightower 2000 study, which set forth a strategy for characterization of low levels of radioactive contaminants in depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF{sub 6}) cylinders at the Oak Ridge, Paducah, and Portsmouth gaseous diffusion plants. The information from that study will be used in a DOE-issued request for proposal (RFP) for conversion services from the private sector, to assist vendors in reducing costs associated with contingencies relating to handling this DUF{sub 6} with elevated transuranics (TRUs) and technetium (Tc). The Hightower study developed a general strategy for DUF{sub 6} sampling and analysis in accordance with their task but also recommended the following courses of action: (a) Collect and analyze liquid samples from the two identified Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) feed cylinders, feed the DUF{sub 6} into the cascades, and conduct an analysis on the resulting heels by washing and analyzing the wash rinsate; (b) Characterize the cylinder coatings to determine the extent and levels of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination; and (c) Verify the characterization of the cylinder inventory's compliance with Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) pressure vessel code In addition to the above recommendations, the study also concluded that additional characterization is not likely to result in lower bids by prospective vendors, and that direct sampling of many older tails cylinders may be impractical