Compliance with the Nevada Test Site`s waste acceptance criteria for vitrified cesium-loaded crystalline silicotitanate (CST)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) are involved in a joint project for immobilization of radionuclides from the Melton Valley Storage Tanks (MVST) at Oak Ridge (OR). The supernate from Tank W-29 of the MVST will be treated by passage through a crystalline silicotitanate (CST) ion exchange medium. The CST was designed to sorb cesium, the primary radio nuclide (Cs-137) in the supernate of MVST`s. A smaller amount of strontium (Sr-90) will also be sorbed. This demonstration will be performed by ORNL. One column volume of cesium-loaded CST ({approximately}10 gallons or 38 liters) will then be shipped to SRTC where it will be mixed with glass formers and fed as an aqueous slurry to a joule-heated melter within the SRTC Shielded Cells. A borosilicate glass formulation which will incorporate the CST has been developed as part oft SRTC`s role in this project. The molten glass ({approximately}1150{degrees}C) will be poured into 500 ml stainless steel beakers which in turn will be placed in 30 gallon drums for disposal. An import&f part of this project is to demonstrate that the glass waste form produced will meet the Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) for disposal at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). If vitrification of the cesium-loaded CST is implemented as the immobilization method for all of the MVST supernate, then it is essential to demonstrate that the waste can be disposed of at an acceptable disposal facility. NTS accepts low-level radioactive waste as long as it is not TRU and not hazardous. This paper documents the efforts in the development stage of this work to integrate the requirements of NTS into the formulation and processing efforts. This work is funded by the Tank Focus Area with additional funding for ORNL provided by EM-30 at OR.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-89SR18035
- OSTI ID:
- 615638
- Report Number(s):
- WSRC-MS-97-00050; CONF-970677-; ON: DE98003419; TRN: 98:005848
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 90. annual meeting and exhibition of the Air and Waste Management Association, Toronto (Canada), 8-13 Jun 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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