Radioactive and Fissile Material Limits

Radioactive and Fissile Material Limits Worker Safety/Defense in Depth AC... 

As indicated in Section 5.3, there are no SLs, LCSs, or LCOs associated with maintaining radioactive and fissile material limits. 

Limits on radioactive and fissile material inventories are established by administrative controls. These limits, as described in Section 5.5.6.3, are in effect for all modes. 

The leaktightness requirement for a containment system in a Type B(U), Type B(M) or Type C package depends on the radiotoxicity of the radioactive contents for example, a Type B(U) or Type C package under accident conditions must have the release limited to a value of in the period of a week. This connection to the A2 value means that for highly toxic radionuclides such as plutonium and americium the allowable volumetric leak rate will be much lower than for low enriched uranium. However, if fissile material is able to escape from the contaimnent system under accident conditions, it must be demonstrated that the quantity that escapes is consistent with that assumed in the criticality safety assessment in applying para. 682(c). 

The TWTF will receive waste contaminated with transuranic nuclides (TRU waste) presently stored at the INEL Radioactive Waste Management Complex. Waste packages are opened and their contents are sorted, placed into charging containers, and charged into an incinerator. Combustibles will be burned and noncombustibles converted to a chemically inot, basalt-bke substance. This substance is cast into ingots and shipped to a federal waste repository. Because of the wide variety of shapes, sizes, and compositions of the waste, heavy reliance is placed on flssile material mass limits in the various process areas. The individual areas interact in the sense that an overload or accumulation of fissile material in one area may be propagated to the next area in the process chain. 

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