New Tool for Radwaste Enabled by 3D Printing Technology
Engineers from the Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) have developed a tool that can eliminate months from the tank waste sampling timeline. They designed, refined, and developed a centrifugal sampling tool using components manufactured with a 3D printer. The tool allows sampling to occur much sooner, thus achieving operational closure sooner, and reducing environmental risks.
Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC), the Savannah River Site (SRS) liquid waste contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM), is responsible for treating and disposing of the millions of gallons of waste remaining in underground tanks at the site, as well as closing the tanks.
Before an emptied waste tank can be filled with grout, SRMC cleans the tank and collects samples of residual material left in the tank. Sampling helps confirm that the cleaning process has been effective and that the tank no longer contains significant residues of high-level radioactive waste. Traditionally, residual waste inside the tank had to dry through evaporation before a remote crawler could be inserted into the tank to obtain the samples — a waiting period that could take six months or more before sampling could move forward.
A new sampling tool eliminates the need for evaporation by way of a centrifuge. The sampling tool is lowered into the waste tank through an access port along with a transport basket, which was also 3D printed. A remote crawler picks up the transport basket with the sampling tool inside, drives it to the sample location, then picks up the sampling tool and activates it.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the new tool recently proved successful in Tank 9 at the Savannah River Site and will notably reduce the sampling schedule by eliminating the need for the waste tank to be dry before sample collection.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy