Chemical Engineering Division waste management programs. Quarterly report, April--June 1975

Consolidation techniques for Zircaloy fuel-cladding hulls were studied. They included (1) further work on a pyrochemical-volatility scheme for separating the zirconium as the volatile tetrachloride and (2) ignition tests and shock- ignition tests on several Zircaloy materials to further characterize the pyrophoric behavior of Zircaloy and the impact on hulls management. Quantitative results on the reaction with molten zinc chloride are presented. A series of steel-melting experiments examined the compatibility of various crucible materials with the molten steel and provided information on the behavior (distribution) of CeO$sub 2$ and UO$sub 2$ (used as stand-ins for PuO$sub 2$). Examination of existing information on deep-well injection of industrial wastes and on low-level aqueous wastes from fuel reprocessing led to the conclusions that the technology is generally available from industrial practice, that costs are of the order of 10$sup -4$ mill/kWh, that environmental effects could be insignificant in normal operation (but could include contamination of groundwater and resources and also stimulation of minor earthquakes in maloperation), that legal constraints may be the most significant barrier to adopting the practice, and that the site of such an operation would best be at a fuel reprocessing plant located at one of the U. S. sedimentary basins. The conclusions and recommendations from a study of the reliability of high-level-waste canisters are presented. (auth