Review: Waste-Pretreatment Technologies for Remediation of Legacy Defense Nuclear Wastes
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for retrieving, immobilizing, and disposing of radioactive waste that has been generated during the production of nuclear weapons in the United States. The vast bulk of this waste material is stored in underground tanks at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and the Hanford Site in Washington State. The general strategy for treating the radioactive tank waste consists of first separating the waste into high-level and low-activity fractions. This initial partitioning of the waste is referred to as pretreatment. Following pretreatment, the high-level fraction will be immobilized in a glass form suitable for disposal in a geologic repository. The low-activity waste will be immobilized in a waste form suitable for disposal at the respective site. This paper provides a review of recent developments in the application of pretreatment technologies to the processing of the Hanford and Savannah River radioactive tank wastes. Included in the review are discussions of 1) solid/liquid separations methods, 2) cesium separation technologies, and 3) other separations critical to the success of the DOE tank waste remediation effort. Also included is a brief discussion of the different requirements and circumstances at the two DOE sites that have in some cases led to different choices in pretreatment technologies.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1008236
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-72741; SEIEDB; EY7144147; TRN: US1101355
- Journal Information:
- Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange, 29(1):1-48, Vol. 29, Issue 1; ISSN 0736-6299
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
CESIUM
GLASS
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
PROCESSING
PRODUCTION
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
TANKS
WASTE FORMS
WASTES
HANFORD ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY
UNDERGROUND STORAGE