Remediation of uranium-contaminated soil using the Segmented Gate System and containerized vat leaching techniques: a cost effectiveness study
Because it is difficult to characterize heterogeneously contaminated soils in detail and to excavate such soils precisely using heavy equipment, it is common for large quantities of uncontaminated soil to be removed during excavation of contaminated sites. Until now, volume reduction of radioactively contaminated soil depended upon manual screening and analysis of samples, a costly and impractical approach, particularly with large volumes of heterogeneously contaminated soil. The baseline approach for the remediation of soils containing radioactive waste is excavation, pretreatment, containerization, and disposal at a federally permitted landfill. However, disposal of low-level radioactive waste is expensive and storage capacity is limited. ThermoNuclean`s Segmented Gate System (SGS) removes only the radioactively contaminated soil, in turn greatly reducing the volume of soils that requires disposal. After processing using the SGS, the fraction of contaminated soil is processed using the containerized vat leaching (CVL) system developed at LANL. Uranium is leached out of the soil in solution. The uranium is recovered with an ion exchange resin, leaving only a small volume of liquid low-level waste requiring disposal. The reclaimed soil can be returned to its original location after treatment with CVL.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 382993
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR--96-2663; ON: DE96014586
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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