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Electrolytic decontamination of conductive materials for hazardous waste management

Conference ·
OSTI ID:431165
Electrolytic removal of plutonium and americium from stainless steel and uranium surfaces has been demonstrated. Preliminary experiments were performed on the electrochemically based decontamination of type 304L stainless steel in sodium nitrate solutions to better understand the metal removal effects of varying cur-rent density, pH, and nitrate concentration parameters. Material removal rates and changes in surface morphology under these varying conditions are reported. Experimental results indicate that an electropolishing step before contamination removes surface roughness, thereby simplifying later electrolytic decontamination. Sodium nitrate based electrolytic decontamination produced the most uniform stripping of material at low to intermediate pH and at sodium nitrate concentrations of 200 g L{sup -1} and higher. Stirring was also observed to increase the uniformity of the stripping process.
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:
431165
Report Number(s):
LA-UR--96-3795; CONF-9509139--11; ON: DE97002348
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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