Structural Analysis for Subsidence of Stacked B-25 Boxes

Jones, W.E.

Savannah River Site (S.C.)

关键词: Corrosion;    Low-Level Radioactive Wastes;    Water Influx;    Stabilization;    Ground Disposal;   

DOI  :  10.2172/812133
RP-ID  :  WSRC-TR-2002-00378
RP-ID  :  AC09-96SR18500
RP-ID  :  812133

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The Savannah River Site (SRS) and other U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites use shallow land burial facilities (i.e., trenches) to dispose low-level radioactive waste. However, at SRS and other DOE sites, waste containers with up to 90 percent void space are disposed in the shallow land burial facilities. Corrosion and degradation of these containers can result in significant subsidence over time, which can compromise the integrity of the long-term cover. This in turn can lead to increased water infiltration through the long-term cover into the waste and subsequent increased radionuclide transport into the environment. Understanding and predicting shallow-buried, low-level waste subsidence behavior is necessary for evaluating cost-effective and appropriate stabilization required to maintain cover system long-term stability and viability, and to obtain stakeholder acceptance of the long-term implications of waste disposal practices. Two methods (dynamic compaction and static surcharge) have been used at SRS to accelerate waste and container consolidation and reduce potential subsidence prior to long term cover construction. Dynamic compaction comprises repeatedly dropping a heavy (20 ton) weight from about a 40-ft height to consolidate the waste and containers. Static surcharge is the use of a thick (15 ft to 30 ft) soil cover to consolidate the underlying materials over a longer time period (three to six months in this case). Quasi-static modeling of a stack of four B-25 boxes at various stags of corrosion with an applied static surcharge has been conducted and is presented herein.