Surface decontamination of solid waste

Conference · Tue Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

OSTI ID:5593503

McCoy, M W; Allen, R P; Arrowsmith, H W

This paper summarizes work in progress at Pacific Northwest Laboratory to develop vibratory finishing into a large-scale decontamination system that can minimize the volume of surface-contaminated metallic and nonmetallic waste requiring geologic disposal. Vibratory finishing is a mass finishing process used in the metal finishing industry to debur, clean and improve surface finishes. The process combines a mechanical scrubbing action of a solid medium with the cleaning action of a liquid compound. The process takes place in a vibrating tub. Tests have demonstrated the ability to rapidly reduce contamination levels of transuranic-contaminated waste to substantially less than 10 nCi/g, the current limit for transuranic waste. The process is effective on a wide range of materials including stainless steel, Plexiglas, Neoprene, and Hypalon, the principal materials in Hanford glove boxes.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 5593503
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-8368; CONF-800802-28; ON: DE82007084
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ALLOYS
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
CLEANING
CORROSION RESISTANT ALLOYS
CUTTING
DATA
DECONTAMINATION
ELASTOMERS
EQUIPMENT
ESTERS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GLOVEBOXES
INFORMATION
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
MACHINING
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS
NEOPRENE
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
PETROCHEMICALS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PLASTICS
PLEXIGLAS
POLYACRYLATES
POLYMERS
POLYVINYLS
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
STAINLESS STEELS
STEELS
SURFACE CLEANING
SURFACE FINISHING
SYNTHETIC MATERIALS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING