The work reported here was funded by Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS). Dave Swanberg with WRPS led the effort and provided both programmatic guidance and technical input to the project team. These screening tests were very laboratory intensive. At Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Ben Williams was instrumental in preparing the Cast Stone specimens and conducting the leach tests. Don Rinehart prepared the simulants. Keith Geiszler, Steve Baum, Igor Kutnyakov, Christian Iovin, and Dennesse Smith analyzed the many samples. Stan Pitman, Mike Dahl, and Karl Mattlin conducted the compressive strength measurements. At Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Vickie Williams was the cornerstone of the preparation and measurement of the Cast Stone fresh properties, Kim Wyszynski and Vickie Williams prepared the simulants, and David Best, Whitney Riley, and Beverly Wall performed the analyses. John Harris with LaFarge graciously provided the dry blend ingredients sourced from the northwest.

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Background. Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) has potential advantages over conventional external beam radiation in that a single large dose is delivered to the tumor and its regional bed at the time of surgical exploration. The therapeutic ratio is enhanced by direct tumor visualization, precise treatment volume, and exclusion of normal organs. In childhood, local tumor control is critical for lesions that cannot be totally excised or residual disease not ablated by systemic therapy. Methods. During the past decade, the authors evaluated IORT in pediatric patients with unresectable or recurrent tumors. Fifty-nine patients were treated, 48 for advanced malignant disease and 11 for histologically benign but locally aggressive tumors. Sixty-four operations were performed, during which 84 separate radiation fields were used. High energy electrons at 5-11 MeV were delivered at a dose of 1000-1700 cGy to a tissue depth of 0.5-3 em. Results. Of 25 children with advanced neuroblastoma, 15 were alive 14-104 months (mean, 51 months) after treatment. The survival of all patients with solid malignancies was 63%. Local tumor control was achieved in 75% of children with cancer and 91% of those with benign tumors. Complications of IORT at the doses used were trivial. Conclusions. Electron beam therapy can be safely and efficiently delivered to young patients during operations intended to treat the primary tumor. The outcome achieved for overall survival and local control of the primary tumor is encouraging, and an acceptable complication rate during intermediate to long-term follow-up has been noted. Cancer 1994; 73:740-7.

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In an amended record of decision for the management of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at the Savannah River Site, the US Department of Energy has authorized the dissolution and recovery of U from 1000 bundles of Al-clad SNF. The SNF is fuel from domestic and foreign research reactors and is typically referred to as Material Test Reactor (MTR) fuel. Bundles of MTR fuel containing assemblies fabricated from U-Al alloys (or other U compounds) are currently dissolved using a Hg-catalyzed HNO 3 flowsheet. Since the development of the existing flowsheet, improved experimental methods have been developed to more accurately characterize the offgas composition and generation rate during laboratory dissolutions. Recently, these new techniques were successfully used to develop a flowsheet for the dissolution of High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) fuel. Using the data from the HFIR dissolution flowsheet development and necessary laboratory experiments, the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) was requested to define flowsheet conditions for the dissolution of MTR fuels. With improved offgas characterization techniques, SRNL will be able define the number of bundles of fuel which can be charged to an H-Canyon dissolver with much less conservatism.Laboratory-scale experiments were performed to evaluate the dissolution of MTR fuels using both Al 1100 and 30 wt % U-Al alloys. The Al 1100 alloy was considered a representative surrogate since it provided an upper bound on the generation of flammable (i.e., H 2 ) gas during the dissolution process. The dissolution of the 30 wt % U-Al alloy proceeded at a slower rate than the Al 1100 alloy and was used to verify that the target Al concentration in solution could be achieved for the selected Hg concentrations. Raman spectroscopy was used to provide continuous monitoring of the concentration of H 2 and other permanent gases in the dissolution offgas allowing the development of H 2 generation rate profiles. The H 2 generation rates were subsequently used to evaluate how many L-Bundles could be dissolved in an H-Canyon dissolver without exceeding 60% of the calculated lower flammability limit (LFL) for H 2 at a given Hg concentration.Complete dissolution of the Al 1100 and 30 wt % U-Al alloys up to a final Al concentration of 2 M was obtained using a HNO 3 solution containing a 0.002 M Hg catalyst. However, following the dissolutions, solids were observed in the solutions. Analysis of the solids generally showed amorphous material or Si and SiO 2 which likely originated from the Si present in the alloys. No crystalline materials, such as UO 2 (NO 3 ) 2 or Al(NO3)3 were observed. Amorphous and silicon-containing solids from the dissolution of MTR fuels should be easily removed by the Head End centrifuge using the standard gelatin strike process. In experiments performed to develop the HFIR fuel dissolution flowsheet, the H 2 generation data showed that delaying the addition of Hg once the HNO 3 solution reached the boiling point can reduce the total offgas and H 2 generation rates. The delay...