Storage of liquid, radioactive wastes
AssigneeHoechst Aktiengesellschaft
InventorsHans Hesky, Armin Wunderer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
When reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, liquid radioactive wastes are obtained and within the wastes heat is generated from fission, and oxyhydrogen may be set free by radiolysis. The fission heat generated within the liquid wastes is carried off by evaporation cooling and, the vapor so formed is condensed and recycled into the storage vessel for the liquid wastes. The oxyhydrogen is then diluted with the vapor formed during evaporation cooling and converted catalytically.
Claims9
Process for storing, in a closed system, liquid radioactive wastes obtained from reprocessing spent nuclear fuel and in which oxyhydrogen is formed by radiolysis of the liquid wastes comprising the steps of
- holding the liquid wastes in a storage vessel having a take-off outlet at the top thereof, and at least one inlet at the bottom thereof, with a conduit coupling said take off outlet to a condenser for condensing at least a portion of vapors of an evaporated condensation liquid carried thereto from said container vessel;
- reducing the pressure in said conduit so that the pressure in said storage vessel is maintained at or below the boiling point of said condensation liquid and so that fission-generated heat in the liquid wastes is carried off by evaporation of said condensation liquid;
- passing said vapors together with the oxyhydrogen through said condenser to condense at least a part of said vapors to a liquid and to remove said fission-generated heat from said vapors;
- recombining to water the oxyhydrogen contained in said vapors;
- returning uncondensed vapors from said condenser to said storage vessel;
- and
- returning the condensed liquid from said condenser, and the recombined water, to a liquid inlet at the bottom of said storage vessel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.