15.4 x 10$ Pa and 455°C. This reactor plant design provides the superheat so the inlet steam is not saturated; its condition resembles that in a fossil-fired power plant. The condensers are designed to condense the low-pressure turbine outlet steam and exhaust steam from the auxiliary turbine drive of the feedwater pump by dissipating the heat to three mechanical-draft wet cooling towers. Each tower is designed to cool 12.3 m$/s of water from 48° to 33°C when operating at a wet bulb temperature of 23°C. Radioactive contaminants come from the fuel itself, impurities in the fuel cladding, activated wear products, or other sources. Because several systems are contaminated, normal maintenance, operations, and leaks will lead to release of some of these elements. The building ventilation systems and processed liquid effluents are the transport mechanisms for release of these radioactive elements. Areas with the potential for contamination are ventilated through high-efficiency particulate filters, which remove more than 99.9% of the particles greater than 0.3 pm. Potentially contaminated liquid effluents are monitored or processed to remove radioactive elements primarily by filtration and ion exchange. In each case, not all of the radioactive elements can be prevented from entering the biosphere. Table 3.7 shows the estimated airborne radionuclide releases from the reference 1250-MW LMFBR facility. These emissions are within the limits prescribed by the EPA for the LWR. The aqueous chemical wastes from a nuclear power plant generally enter the environment via the blowdown stream from a closed-cycle cooling system or the circulating cooling water stream from an open-cycle system. The major sources of the waste streams from a nuclear power plant are those originating from the condenser cooling system and the process water system. All other waste streams are minor compared to those. Negligible radioactive effluents will be emitted from an LMFBR plant. A summary of effluents is provided in Table 3.8. Solid wastes generated at the reactor will consist typically of filters from the heating and ventilation system, deactivated primary coolant sodium cold traps, analytical laboratory and liquid waste treatment residues, contaminated tools and parts, and waste such as plastic bags, footcovers, paper towels, and protective clothing. These wastes will be compacted and packaged in 55-gallon (0.21m3) sealed drums, then shipped to a low-level waste burial ground. About 0.26 m$ of tritium waste per year, in the form of CaCO^H^j will be included in these solid wastes. About 3117 curies of betagamma waste and about 30,000 curies of tritium waste will be generated each year. Table 3.7 Postulated Radionuclide Releases, 1250-MW LMFBR Power Plant at 70% Capacity Factor
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU5NjU0Mg==