Uranium-233 waste definition: Disposal options, safeguards, criticality control, and arms control

Abstract

This report has been reproduced directly from the best available copy. The plutonium or 233U waste form has a potential major impact on safeguards . . . . This document summarizes scientific information on 233U. This includes production methods, decay processes, and the material characteristics. The requirements for storage and disposal are also included. vii LIST OF TABLES ORNL/TM-l35534trategy for the Future Use and Disposition of 233U: Options. This document describes the proposed disposition alternatives, identifies what material in inventory couldbe treated by each disposition option, and provides an initial analysis of each option. A listing of the legislative or regulatory changes required for each alternative is also provided. ORNLITM-13 524-Isotopic Dilution Requirements for 233U Criticality Safety in Processing andDisposal Facilities. This document determines and defines how much depleted uranium (DU) must be mixed with 233U to prevent the potential for nuclear criticality under all expected process and disposal facility conditions. ORNL/TM-135 17-DeJnition of Weapons Usable 233U. This document determines and defines how much DU must be mixed with 233U to convert the 233U into a non-weapons-usable material.... Xlll EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OBJECTIVESThe United States investigated the use of 233U for weapons, reactors, and other purposes from the 1950s into the 1970s. Based on the results of these investigations, it was decided not to use 233U on a large scale.Most of the 233U-containing materials were placed in long-term storage. At the end of the cold war, the United States initiated, as part of its arms control policies, a disposition program for excess fissile materials.Other programs were accelerated for disposal of radioactive wastes placed in storage during the cold war.Last, potential safety issues were identified related to the storage of some 233U-containing materials.Because of these changes, significant activities associated with 233U-containing materials are expected. This report is one of a series of reports (see preface) to provide the technical bases for future decisions on how to manage this material.A basis for defining when 233U-containing materials can be managed as waste and when they must be managed as concentrated fissile materials has been developed. The requirements for storage, transport, and disposal of radioactive wastes are significantly different than those for fissile materials. Because of these differences, it is important to classify material in its appropriate category. The establishment of a definition of what is waste and what is fissile material will provide the guidance for appropriate management of these materials.Wastes are defined in this report as materials containing sufficiently small masses or low concentrations of fissile materials such that they can be managed as typical radioactive waste. Concentrated$ssile materials are defined herein as materials containing sufficient fissile content such as to warrant special handling to address nuclear criticality, s...