SERVICE OFFERING
Full Service Waste Management
Mechanical Systems and Component Engineering
Rolls‑Royce has been helping customers to
successfully solve difficult radioactive waste
handling and treatment problems, in a wide
range of applications, for many years.
Tank waste (solid/liquid/sludge)
We have the tools and expertise to provide custom equipment for handling
both solid and liquid waste, at any point in the waste treatment cycle, from
characterization through processing to final storage.
Retrieval
Characterization
Process systems (liquid waste)
If your application requires extraction of a process fluid sample from an
operating system, Rolls‑Royce can offer a number of solutions. Dependent
upon the system conditions (fluid, pressure, temperature), we can provide
manual sampling systems with shielded bottles, syringe sampling systems,
and remotely operated in-line grab samplers. Pressure reducing devices
can be added to reduce system pressures for manual sampling, and coolers
can be used to reduce temperature as required. They are designed to safely
extract a fluid sample for further analysis of physical, chemical, or radiological
properties, with minimal risk of spread of contamination.
www.rolls-royce.com
Rolls‑Royce has a number of remotely operated arm designs to inspect or
survey tank contents, or to deliver various end effectors to take physical
samples. The basic designs can be scaled for a range of applications, and are
designed to be compact when nested to allow raising and lowering
through tank risers.
Tank waste
Rolls‑Royce has supplied articulating arms with various end effectors to reach
deep into tanks and remove troublesome waste. They are designed for harsh
environments, with high radiation fields and corrosive chemicals, and where
tank integrity is of utmost importance. They are compact in design to fit
through tank risers, but with maximum reach to gain access to as much of
the tank as possible. For waste retrieval, the arm can be fitted with a vacuum
hose connected to a vacuum outside the tank, and radiation-tolerant cameras
can be attached to the arm for in-tank viewing. Arms are manufactured using
materials easily decontaminated as they are withdrawn from the tank.
Activated reactor internals or contaminated components
Rolls‑Royce remote handling equipment is robust and reliable to ensure
trouble-free operation for the life of a campaign. Design features minimize
contamination holdup and facilitate easy decontamination. Redundancy
is provided for critical drives to address potential failure modes. Radiation
NUCLEAR INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY
Full Service Waste Management
tolerant instrumentation is used where necessary. We have provided major
equipment to reactor refurbishment projects, and for retrieving spent fuel
from temporary storage for re-packaging.
Containment
Temporary holding flasks
If temporary containment is required to move waste prior to further
processing, Rolls‑Royce can help design and fabricate a custom enclosure or
shielded flask. We’ve supplied a number of custom enclosures for a variety
of waste, for example steam generator scale, spent fuel, spent ion exchange
resin, and contaminated filter baskets.
Rolls‑Royce has designed and manufactured specialized clamps for retaining
the lid of a Dry Storage Container, a large steel and concrete flask used
for long term storage of CANDU fuel. The lid clamp ensures that the lid is
retained on the container during removal from the spent fuel pond and
during transport to a welding station. The clamp is robust enough to retain
the lid during postulated accident events, and specifically a drop and tip
accident, and must provide for IAEA safeguards to be attached.
Long reach arm
Clean-up/Decontamination
Tank washdown
The same type of remote arms used for characterization can have spray nozzles
fitted to permit washdown of the interiors of waste storage tanks in tank farms.
The arm’s reach provides maximum access to the tank and internals to spray
internal surface in order to remove surface contamination and wash debris and
particulate to the bottom of the tank where it can be removed.
System decontamination
Rolls‑Royce products can help customers reduce background radiation fields
from internal contamination of piping and components. We’ve supplied
decontamination systems, utilizing dilute acid and base solutions and ion
exchange processes, to remove activated products from the inner surfaces of
systems and components. Particulate is captured in filters, and dissolved ions
are deposited on ion exchange resin. Spent resin can be sluiced into drums
for storage and future processing (immobilized in grout or resin).
Dry storage
container in bay clamp
Transfer
Liquid waste
When moving liquid radioactive waste, the integrity of the piping system is
of utmost importance. From engineering and design through to fabrication,
examination and final testing, all details must be considered. Analysis must
consider not only pressure and deadweight, but thermal expansion stresses
and potential seismic loads. Intelligent design and careful consideration of
supports and anchors is extremely important. These systems are typically
welded construction, with weld examination to highest ASME standards.
We have provided system complete piping system designs for installation in
existing stations, requiring interface with station documentation systems and
tradespeople, and skid-mounted systems fabricated in our facility for easy
integration into a plant with minimal on-site fabrication and commissioning.
Solid waste
Depending on the constraints of the application and QA requirements, we
can use a commercial vehicle with modifications to suit site requirements
and specific flask or container configurations, or custom design an entire
vehicle if the application demands. We’ve supplied carts for flasks weighing
a few thousand pounds, to a very large vehicle to move a flask weighing in
excess of 40 tons.
In one case a customer identified a need to move lead shielded filters and ion
exchange columns from their operating area to a service area, which required
a vehicle with the ability to turn about its own centre and move through very
tight quarters. We were able to provide a custom vehicle, including all design,
software, fabrication and testing, that allowed the customer to safely move
the vessels within the constraints of the existing facility.
Rolls‑Royce designed a mobile facility to accommodate interfacing of a
variety of station flasks, the goal being to transfer active components from a
variety of unique station flasks into a flask rated for public road transport. The
equipment allows very heavy lead shielded flasks to easily be moved and
aligned to permit transfer with minimal personnel exposure, and enables the
customer to move active components off-site to a waste storage facility.
Processing
Gas or Liquid waste
Solid waste
Solid waste processing can employ of a variety of processes, from cleaning
and drying to volume reduction. For example, we have designed, built and
tested a system that uses a combination of moderate heating and vacuum
to dry spent nuclear fuel in preparation for long term storage. In this case
it’s important that the fuel is dry to preclude evolution of hydrogen from
radiolysis of the water, and to prevent further degradation of the storage
containers. Only moderate heating is used to avoid evolution of undesirable
gases from organics that may be present.
Salt distillation furnace
Solid liquid
separation system
Vessel transfer cart
Vacuum drying
process skid
Active component transfer system
Process fluid streams can be subjected to a variety of processes to
extract particulate or active elements or remove excess liquid: filtration,
ion exchange, reverse osmosis, absorption, distillation, evaporation, or a
combination of methods. The choice depends on a number of factors,
including fluid characteristics, decontamination factor desired, and cost.
Rolls‑Royce can provide everything from components to complete
turn-key systems. We can help develop a process concept into a detailed
flowsheet/process and instrumentation diagram, specify and select
components, perform all detailed engineering and design, and produce
detailed manufacturing drawings. Our fabrication facility can manufacture,
assemble and test the entire system, ready for installation. Or if only a single
component is required, we can provide detailed design and manufacture,
including any substantiating engineering calculations.
Re-Packaging
Solid waste
Our experience in re-packaging has been focused on helping solve legacy
waste issues. We are currently assisting a customer to get waste from
temporary storage, with poor environmental control, into a new longer term
storage facility. The primary concern is to handle the waste safely and in a
way that avoids damage, potential spread of contamination, and personnel
exposure. We’ve developed the preliminary design for new storage tubes
into a product that can be reliably manufactured. We’re also supplying a
packaging station, which helps control the environmental conditions and
spread of contamination, and minimizes personnel exposure to radiation,
during transfer of the waste into the new containers.
We’ve supplied a wide range of products, and a number of turn-key systems,
for processing gaseous and liquid waste streams. Some examples include:
• A
complete skid mounted decontamination system, including ion
exchange, filtration, chemical injection, and resin transfer systems.
• C
ross-flow filtration system for increasing solids concentration in a waste
stream in preparation for further processing.
• F urnaces for salt distillation, using Inconel materials and custom heater
elements.
• A
wide variety of filtration components, from small y-strainers to large
lead shielded multi-element filter vessels.
Fuel packaging system
Full Service Waste Management
Transport
Storage
Liquid radioactive material
Liquid waste
Tritiated heavy water is moved between licensed nuclear facilities
for detritiation. The transportation packages to be used for these
shipments required upgrades prior to putting them into service. We
recommended and implemented upgrade methods, and undertook a
complete manufacturability review to recommend design changes to
aid manufacturing of future transportation packages, while maintaining
regulatory compliance.
CANDU stations require significant storage for tritiated and contaminated
heavy water from moderator and primary heat transport systems. Heavy
waters systems are typically manufactured using corrosion resistant
materials, and must be kept extremely clean during fabrication to avoid
introducing halogens and free iron into the heavy water. We supply
additional inventory for on-site storage of heavy water (6 tanks, 1.38 Mg
each), including evaluation of existing systems and tie-ins, and technical
support for installation.
Solid waste
In addition to detailed design of long-term storage containers, Rolls‑Royce
can perform specialized qualification testing, for example particle migration
through threads of a storage container. We have provided a detailed review for
the manufacturing of storage containers for spent nuclear fuel, manufactured
a prototype to validate the design and manufacturing processes, and
ultimately manufactured more than 100 spent fuel storage containers.
Dry storage container fabrication
Cross section of D20 tank
Multipurpose transport container
7589/SO.22/Nov10
Rolls-Royce Power Civil nuclear Canada
678 Neal Drive, PO Box 1776
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, K9J 7X6
Key Point of Contact:
Technical Sales
Tel: +1(705) 743-2708
Fax: +1(705) 743 3216
Rolls-Royce Power Engineering plc
PO Box 2000, Derby DE21 7BD, England
Tel: +44 (0)1332 632688
Fax: +44 (0)1332 622936
Email: [email protected]
www.rolls-royce.com
© 2010 Rolls-Royce plc
Whilst this information is given in good
faith, no warranty or representation is given
concerning such information, which must not
be taken as establishing any contractual or
other commitment binding upon Rolls-Royce
plc or any of its subsidiary companies.