Defense Waste Processing Facility staged operations: environmental information document

Technical Report · Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:5826623

Environmental information is presented relating to a staged version of the proposed Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Plant. The information is intended to provide the basis for an Environmental Impact Statement. In either the integral or the staged design, the DWPF will convert the high-level waste currently stored in tanks into: a leach-resistant form containing about 99.9% of all the radioactivity, and a residual, slightly contaminated salt, which is disposed of as saltcrete. In the first stage of the staged version, the insoluble sludge portion of the waste and the long lived radionuclides contained therein will be vitrified. The waste glass will be sealed in canisters and stored onsite until shipped to a Federal repository. In the second stage, the supernate portion of the waste will be decontaminated by ion exchange. The recovered radionuclides will be transferred to the Stage 1 facility, and mixed with the sludge feed before vitrification. The residual, slightly contaminated salt solution will be mixed with Portland cement to form a concrete product (saltcrete) which will be buried onsite in an engineered landfill. This document describes the conceptual facilities and processes for producing glass waste and decontaminated salt. The environmental effects of facility construction, normal operations, and accidents are then presented. Descriptions of site and environs, alternative sites and waste disposal options, and environmental consultations and permits are given in the base Environmental Information Document.

• Research Organization: Du Pont de Nemours (E.I.) and Co., Aiken, SC (USA). Savannah River Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-76SR00001
• OSTI ID: 5826623
• Report Number(s): DPST-80-249-Suppl.; ON: DE82004479; TRN: 82-004802
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
AIR POLLUTION
BOROSILICATE GLASS
CONTAINERS
DECONTAMINATION
ION EXCHANGE
PORTLAND CEMENT
RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS
SALTS
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
SOLIDIFICATION
WATER POLLUTION
BUILDING MATERIALS
CEMENTS
CLEANING
GLASS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
POLLUTION
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
053000* - Nuclear Fuels- Environmental Aspects
052001 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Processing
500500 - Environment
Atmospheric- Site Resource & Use Studies- (-1989)
510500 - Environment
Terrestrial- Site Resource & Use Studies- (-1989)
520500 - Environment
Aquatic- Site Resource & Use Studies- (-1989)