Volume reduction philosophy and techniques in use or planned

Conference · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6647246

Row, T H

Siting and development of nuclear waste disposal facilities is an expensive task. In the private sector, such developments face siting and licensing issues, public intervention, and technology challenges. The United States Department of Energy (DOE) faces similar challenges in the management of waste generated by the research and production facilities. Volume reduction can be used to lengthen the service life of existing facilities. A wide variety of volume reduction techniques are applied to different waste forms. Compressible waste is compacted into drums, cardboard and metal boxes, and the loaded drums are supercompacted into smaller units. Large metallic items are size-reduced and melted for recycle or sent to shallow land burial. Anaerobic digestion is a process that can reduce cellulosic and animal wastes by 80%. Incinerators of all types have been investigated for application to nuclear wastes and a number of installations operate or are constructing units for low-level and transuranic solid and liquid combustibles. Technology may help solve many of the problems in volume reduction, but the human element also has an important part in solving the puzzle. Aggressive educational campaigns at two sites have proved very successful in reducing waste generation. This overview of volume reduction is intended to transfer the current information from many DOE facilities. 44 references, 85 figures, 5 tables.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 6647246
• Report Number(s): CONF-8406170-1; ON: DE84014275
• Resource Relation: Conference: 2. joint DOE/CEA radwaste management meeting, Paris, France, 12 Jun 1984; Other Information: Portions are illegible in microfiche products
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
VOLUME
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION
COMBUSTION
COMPACTING
MOLTING
SOLID WASTES
US DOE
BIOCONVERSION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DIGESTION
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OXIDATION
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
052001* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Processing