WASTE TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL PROGRESS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1962, AND JANUARY 1963 (1963)

get up to the operating liquid level. The average feed rate was 17.0 liters/hr (391 liters in 23 hrs). The resulting bulk density was 0.50 g/cc. The feeding period was 23 hrs and the calcining time was 24 hrs. The pot was allowed to cool for 6 hrs and then was capped and reheated to measure pressure buildup. After capping the pressure rose to 4 psig in about 1 hr and decayed slowly to atmospheric in about 4 hrs. After 98 hrs at temperature (900 deg C plus or minus 25 deg C) an attempt was made to pressurize the pot to about 25 psig to determine if there was a leak. The pot could not be pressurized because the safety rupture disk had ruptured. Sulfate volatility from melts containing 39 wt.% simulated Purex waste oxides was investigated as a function of Na/sub 2/O, CaO and P/sub 2/O/sub 5/ content. All compositions lost some sulfate at 50 to 100 deg C above the softening point. In generai the volatility decreased with increase of either Na/ sub 2/O or CaO relative to P/sub 2/O/sub 5/, but no simple correlation Was indicated. Softening temperatures were lowered by inc ease in Na/sub 2/O vs CaO. Ceramic solids were obtained but no true glasses. Attempts to produce glasses by addition of varying combinations of Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/, PbO, BaO, and B/sub 2/O/ sub 3/ to simulated Pure x waste plus phosphite were unsuccessful. The use of 0.005 M Na/sub 2/C/O/sub 3/ to precipitate calcium from wastes containing up to 3 ppm of phosphate was demonstrated in four pilot plant runs and produced a decrease in the hardness of the waste leaving the clarifier. An inadvertent Sr/ sup 90/ and Cs/sup 137/ breakthrough occurred during one run which was caused by the breakthrough of hardness from a polishing filter. Satisfactory Sr/sup 90/ and Cs/sup 137/ removal to less than 1% of initial concentration were obtained in two runs. The effect of fission product removal on the cost of high-activity waste management was investigated through interim liquid storage, pot calcination, and shipment to sait mines for permanent disposal, and it does not appear that fission product removal will significantly decrease the cost of waste management. Minimum total costs (less costs for disposal in salt) were about 0.141 mill/kwh/sub e/ for 99% removal, and 0.147 mill/ kwh/sub e/ for 90% removal, compared with 0.147 mill/kwh for management of acidic Purex waste from which fission products had not been removed. Test drilling at the site of the proposed large-scale fracturing experiments with actual mixtures of waste and cement has explored all the favorable part of the geologic section from the middle Conasauga to the top of the Knox, and three particularly favorable zones were identified. These are in the lower Conasauga between depths of 692 and 1002 ft, in the upper or middle Chickamauga between 1700 and 1866 ft, and in the lower Chickamauga between 2648 and 2852 ft. Both the array and isolated cylinder tests in the wail and floor of a salt mine were started in July. Operation of the cylinder tests is proceeding normally, but the six peripheral heaters in the array failed due to breakage of the heater lead wires. The cause of the failure is being investigated. Undisturbed cores of bottom sediments at 14 cross sections on the Clinch River, two cross sections on the Emory River, and two cross sections of Popiar Creek were obtained. Frequency curves for minimum dilution factors of 1-, 3-, 7-, 15-, and 30-day duration were prepared, and it is found that the minimum 30-day dilution factor is 130 for a two-year recurrence interval and is 78 for a ten-year recurrence interval. The minimum diiution factor for a two-year recurrence intrval