Electrokinetic decontamination of concrete
The US Department of Energy has assigned a priority to the advancement of technology for decontaminating concrete surfaces which have become contaminated with radionuclides, heavy metals, and toxic organics. This agency is responsible for decontamination and decommissioning of thousands of buildings. Electrokinetic extraction is one of the several innovative technologies which emerged in response to this initiative. This technique utilizes an electropotential gradient and the subsequent electrical transport mechanism to cause the controlled movement of ionics species, whereby the contaminants exit the recesses deep within the concrete. The primary objective was to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach as a means to achieve ``release levels`` which could be consistent with unrestricted use of a decontaminated building. The secondary objectives were: To establish process parameters; to quantify the economics; to ascertain the ALARA considerations; and to evaluate wasteform and waste volume. The work carried out to this point has achieved promising results to the extent that ISOTRON{reg_sign} has been authorized to expand the planned activity to include the fabrication of a prototype version of a commercial device.
- Research Organization:
- Isotron Corp., New Orleans, LA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC21-93MC30162
- OSTI ID:
- 205192
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/MC/30162--96/C0576; CONF-9510108--53; ON: DE96007381
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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