Source terms for radioactive gaseous effluents from a model high-level waste solidification facility

The model high-level waste solidification facility (WSF) is envisaged as being similar to the New Waste Calcining Facility (NWCF) being constructed at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory but with provisions for incorporating the calcine into a glass. The decontamination factor (DF) is estimated to be one for tritium, 100 for iodine, and 5.0 x 10/sup 8/ for ruthenium. The DFs for other nuclides are in the range of mid to high 10/sup 9/. The volatile radionuclide of primary concern in waste solidification is ruthenium (in particular, /sup 106/Ru). With an estimated DF of 5.0 x 10/sup 8/, the /sup 106/Ru expected to be released from the WSF amounts to 3.4, 2.9, and 0.091 mCi/day for immediate solidification, a freshly filled waste tank (189 days), and five years of tank storage, respectively. The FSAR of the Barnwell Nuclear Fuel Plant Separations Facility implies that 4.6 mCi/day of /sup 106/Ru might be released from the stack of the separations facility and states that such a release meets all state and Federal standards and specifications.