Reprocessing plants Nuclear Fuel Services

In New York state a reprocessing plant near Buffalo began to reprocess nuclear wastes in 1966. After 6 years Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS), a subsidiary of W.R. Grace s Davison Chemical Company, abandoned the facility. There were 2 million cubic feet of radioactive material left behind along with 600,000 gallons of radioactive liquid waste that was seeping into a creek that flows into Lake Erie the source of drinking water for Buffalo. The cost of cleanup was estimated to be 1 billion. 

Two papers about high-level waste management plans for commercial reprocessing plants complete the overview of operating plant activities. J. P. Duckworth details the Nuclear Fuel Services plans. R. G. 

Neutralized waste may develop another problem. Sludge will be formed that will carry most of the radioactivity and will eventually settle. That happened at Hanford, Savannah River, and at the Nuclear Fuel Services plant at West Valley, New York, the first commercial reprocessing plant, which is now out of operation. Considerable problems will have to be solved there to transfer the waste entirely from the storage tanks to a final treatment facility. 

Cochran, J. A., Smith, D. G., Magno, P. J. and Shleien, B. (1970). Investigation of Airborne Radioactive Effluent from, cm Operating Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plant, Report No. BRH/NERHL-70-3 also Report No. PB-193803 (National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia). 

D. W. Holladay, A Eiterature Survey Methodsfor the Removal of Iodine Speciesfrom Off-Gases and Uquid Waste Streams ofNuclear Power and Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plants, with Emphasis on Solid Sorbents, Report ORNL/TM-6350 (January, 1979), p. 46, available from National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va. 

British Nuclear Fuels pic (BNFL) provide a complete nuclear fuel cycle service with its sites at Springfields (AGR/Magnox Fuel Fabrication) near Preston and Sellafield (MOX Fuel Fabrication and Reprocessing) in Cumbria. BNFL also generates electricity using Magnox Reactors at Sellafield (Calder Hall) and Chaplecross in Scotland. This paper provides an overview of the Windscale Vitrification Plant (WVP) and reviews the major safety issues associated with vitrification operations. The practicalities of vitrification of Pu using the current WVP process are briefly discussed. 

To secure the assessment of EFR fuel cycle costs, EFRUG requested the major ctHnpanies specialised in nuclear fuel fabrication and reprocessing, BNFL and COGEhlA, to provide up-to-date information on fuel service costs. As for the plant construction, die fuel service cost assessment was requested for the first-off station and for a series unit in a programme of fast reactors to establish a fuel cycle operating under similar industrial conditions as for the PWRs. 

Reprocessing of the spent fuel of the ININ reactor is not being considered as an option, as TRIGA spent fuel reprocessing has only been demonstrated on a laboratory scale and no commercial service is currently available. As in other countries, the decision on TRIGA spent fuel disposal will be tied to the plans for spent fuel disposal of the nuclear power plants operating in the country. 

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