Sludge washing and caustic leaching of Hanford tank sludges
- Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, WA (United States)
The baseline approach for the treatment and disposal of the radioactive defense wastes currently stored in underground tanks at the US Department of Energy`s Hanford site involves portioning these wastes into a smaller volume of high-level waste (HLW) and a larger volume of low-level waste (LLW). A baseline pretreatment method to minimize the volume of HLW currently is being investigated. This method involves: (1) suspending and washing the sludges with a dilute NaOH/NaNO{sub 2} solution, and (2) performing caustic leaching with 3 M NaOH to solubilize certain components. The physical and chemical changes associated with the baseline pretreatment process have been examined for a variety of single-shell and double-shell tank sludges. These investigations and the impact of the baseline pretreatment process on the amount of HLW generated will be discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 370585
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960376--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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