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Title: Los Alamos controlled air incinerator upgrade for TRU/mixed waste operations

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6202154

The Los Alamos Controlled Air Incinerator (CAI) is undergoing a major process upgrade to accept Laboratory-generated transuranic (TRU) and TRU mixed wastes on a production basis. In the interim,prior to the scheduled 1992 operation of a new on-site LLW/mixed waste incinerator, the CAI will also be accepting solid and liquid low-level mixed wastes. This paper describes major modifications that have been made to the process to enhance safety and ensure reliability for long-term, routine waste incineration operations. The regulatory requirements leading to operational status of the system are also briefly described. The CAI was developed in the mid-1970s as a demonstration system for volume reduction of TRU combustible solid wastes. It continues as a successful R and D system well into the 1980s during which incineration tests on a wide variety of radioactive and chemical waste forms were performed. In 1985, a DOE directive required Los Alamos to reduce the volume of its TRU waste prior to ultimate placement in the geological repository at the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP). With only minor modifications to the original process flowsheet, the Los Alamos CAI was judged capable of conversion to a TRU waste operations mode. 9 refs., 1 fig.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
OSTI ID:
6202154
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-89-990; CONF-890521-1; ON: DE89009351; TRN: 89-011108
Resource Relation:
Conference: 8. international conference on thermal destruction of hazardous, radioactive, infectious and mixed wastes, Knoxville, TN, USA, 1 May 1989; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English