Regulatory Requirements for Pollution Prevention for the Salt Waste Processing Facility at Savannah River Site

Conference · Mon Oct 25 04:00:00 EDT 1999

OSTI ID:14275

Malik, N P

Savannah River Site (SRS) is a Department of Energy facility for production of nuclear materials located near Aiken, South Carolina that is operated by the Westinghouse Savannah River Company. Waste sludges and salts generated from the processing of nuclear materials have been stored in underground storage tanks since operations began in the 1950s. These sludges and salts contain high levels of long-lived and short-lived radionuclides. To ensure the long-term protection of human health and the environment, some tanks that do not comply with current regulatory requirements are to be emptied and closed per the SRS Federal Facilities Agreement . Sludge generated from these tanks is being immobilized in borosilicate glass through vitrification at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at SRS. The remaining radioactive liquids have a high concentration of salts. For economic and practical purposes, the approach for processing salts is to separate the radionuclides from the non-radioactive salts and incidental wastes. The radionuclides are processed at the DWPF, while the salts and incidental wastes are disposed of as low level waste.

• Research Organization: Savannah River Site (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-96SR18500
• OSTI ID: 14275
• Report Number(s): WSRC-MS-99-00586
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
BOROSILICATE GLASS
POLLUTION ABATEMENT
POLLUTION REGULATIONS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
SALTS
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
SLUDGES
VITRIFICATION