Over-Packing of Spent Ion Exchange Resin Carbon Steel Liners at Ontario Power Generation’s Western Waste Management Facility

Abstract

Spent resins from Ontario Power Generation (OPG)'s and Bruce Power's CANDU reactor operations are stored at OPG's Western Waste Management Facility in Kincardine, Ontario. The older resins are contained in 3 m³ epoxy-coated cylindrical carbon steel containers known as resin liners. These liners are stored in a stacked configuration within cylindrical in-ground containers. Previous studies indicated evidence of unacceptable liner wall corrosion and the potential for eventual leakage of resin from the liners.

Based on this, OPG elected to repackage the majority of the resin liners into stainless steel over-packs. A contract for this work was awarded in mid-2006 to a project team consisting of Duratek of Canada, Kinectrics, Inc. and E.S. Fox. The project is expected to be completed by March 2008. This paper presents a) a description of the technical basis for overpacking and b) an overall summary of the over-packing project activities and achievements.