Recovery and recycling of aluminum, copper, and precious metals from dismantled weapon components
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM (United States)
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is tasked to support the Department of Energy in the dismantlement and disposal of SNL designed weapon components. These components are sealed in a potting compound, and contain heavy metals, explosive, radioactive, and toxic materials in discrete sub-components. SNL developed and demonstrated a process to identify and remove the hazardous sub-components utilizing real-time radiography and abrasive water-jet cutting. The remaining components were then crushed, granulated, screened, and separated into an aluminum and a precious-and-base-metals fraction using air-tables. Plastics were further cleaned for disposal as non-hazardous waste. The New Mexico Bureau of Mines & Mineral Resources assisted SNL in investigation of size-reduction and separation technologies and in the development of a conceptual design for a mechanical separation system.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 25039
- Report Number(s):
- SAND--94-2759; ON: DE95007711
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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