CLOSURE OF HLW TANKS PHASE 2 FULL SCALE COOLING COILS GROUT FILL DEMONSTATIONS

This report documents the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) support for the Tank Closure and Technology Development (TCTD) group's strategy for closing high level radioactive waste (HLW) tanks at the Savannah River Site (SRS). Specifically, this task addresses the ability to successfully fill intact cooling coils, presently within the HLW tanks, with grout that satisfies the fresh and cured grout requirements [1] under simulated field conditions. The overall task was divided into two phases. The first phase was the development of a grout formulation that satisfies the processing requirements for filling the HLW tank cooling coils [5]. The second phase of the task, which is documented in this report, was the filling of full scale cooling coils under simulated field conditions using the grout formulation developed in the first phase. SRS Type I tank cooling coil assembly design drawings and pressure drop calculations were provided by the Liquid Waste (LW) customer to be used as the basis for configuring the test assemblies. The current concept for closing tanks equipped with internal cooling coils is to pump grout into the coils to inhibit pathways for infiltrating water. Access to the cooling coil assemblies is through the existing supply/return manifold headers located on top of the Type I tanks. The objectives for the second phase of the testing, as stated in the Task Technical and Quality Assurance plan (TTQAP) [2], were to: (1) Perform a demonstration test to assess cooling coil grout performance in simulated field conditions, and (2) Measure relevant properties of samples prepared under simulated field conditions. SRNL led the actual work of designing, fabricating and filling two full-scale cooling coil assemblies which were performed at Clemson Engineering Technologies Laboratory (CETL) using the South Carolina University Research and Education Foundation (SCUREF) program. A statement of work (SOW) was issued to CETL [6] to perform this work