Tank farm groupings

DOE-HDBK-3010-94

Appendix B; Plutonium Recovery Facility

The tank farm groupings are based on placing tanks approximately over the process they feed,

except for the main interior storage tanks. Each tank farm grouping is surrounded by a dike

to contain spilled liquid.

All tanks have sightglass level indication, which is monitored hourly and during filling

operations. Certain tanks are also equipped with alarming level indication. These alarms are

for the purpose of informing operators so as to maintain operational continuity, not to prevent

imminent hazards. Internal bulk storage tanks N-1, N-2, N-3, S-1, and S-2 are provided with

low level alarms to alert operators that the sources of makeup feed for process head tanks

need to be refilled. These tanks are also equipped with high level alarm indication as they

are filled from the large outside storage tanks in the H-3 chemical feed area. Ion exchange

head tanks I-1 and I-10 and precipitator head tanks P-10 and P-20 are provided with low level

alarms to avoid needless interruption of the process cycle that would trigger lengthy

procedural requirements for restoration. Scrubbing system tanks S-10, C-1, and H-1 are

alarmed to avoid interrupting scrubbing operations that would require shutdown of vessel

vent, calcination, or hydrofluorination processes. A master alarm sounds at three locations in

the tank farm area and at an individual alarm panel on the north wall of the area. The master

alarm also sounds in the facility control room. All tanks in which mixing occurs and those

that contain chemicals prone to stratification are equipped with agitation impellers.

There are four chemical storage rooms on the second floor. The first houses bottles of liquid

chemicals, which are manually mixed with water in small tanks. These bottles are kept in

storage cabinets. The only other source of bottled chemicals on the second floor is the

flammable liquids storage cabinet, which contains cleaning supplies. It is located against the

outer south wall of the liquid chemical storage room.

The H2O2 storage room holds up to 11 55-gallon drums of 35% hydrogen peroxide at a time.

A portable pump and tubing is used to empty these drums into the hydrogen peroxide feed

tank. The resin storage room contains up to five drums of Dowex 21-K resin at a time.

Various equipment used in the tank farm is stored both in this room and the hydrogen

peroxide drum storage room. The dry chemical storage room contains calcium metal in one

storage cabinet, pre-weighed reduction charges of calcium in a second cabinet, various dry

chemicals in small bottles in a third cabinet, and pyrotechnic initiators in a fourth cabinet. A

small storage bin for 12 calcium charges and one for 12 initiators are also located in the

maintenance room of the reduction line.

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