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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Documentation of currently operating low-level radioactive waste treatment systems: Shredder/compactor report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5197068
The report documents a volume reduction waste treatment system for dry active waste, a shredder/compactor, and includes specifics on system selection, system descriptions, and detailed system performance data from three operational nuclear power plants. Data gathered from the plants have shown the ability to increase the density (thereby reducing the volume) of dry active waste to /approximately/50 pounds per cubic foot when using shredder/compactors and/approximately/80 to 100 pounds per cubic foot for shredder/high pressure compactors depending on reactor type and plant specific waste characteristics. An economic evaluation of various alternative volume reduction systems for dry active waste is also presented. The report presents a method on calculating the associated costs and paybacks achieved using various volume reduction alternatives. A 10 year cost (operating expenses and capital outlay for equipment) for a shredder/high pressure compactor is 1.85 million dollars for a BWR as compared to /approximately/3 million for a conventional drum compactor. The resulting payback for the shredder/compactor is as low as 1.7 years. The report provides generators of low level waste additional information to understand the nuances of shredder/compactor systems to select a system which best suits their individual needs. 4 refs., 6 figs., 10 tabs.
Research Organization:
Impell Corp., Walnut Creek, CA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
FG07-86ID12635
OSTI ID:
5197068
Report Number(s):
DOE/ID/12635-T1; ON: DE88008594
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English