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

Waste systems progress report, March 1983 through February 1984

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6260089

Preliminary design engineering for a Beryllum Electrorefining Demonstration Process has been completed and final engineering for fabrication of the process will be completed by the fourth quarter of FY-84. A remotely operated Advanced Size Reduction Facility (ASRF) is under construction and, when completed, will be used for sectioning plutonium-contaminated gloveboxes for disposal. Modification and additions were made to the 82 kg/hr Fluidized Bed Incinerator (FBI) in preparation for turning the unit over to Production. Several types of cementation processes are being developed to treat various TRU and low-level waste streams to reduce the dispersibility of the wastes. Portland cement and Envirostone gypsum cement were investigated as immobilization media for wet precipitation sludges and organic liquid wastes. Transuranic contaminated waste is being retrieved from storage at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory for examination at Rocky Flats Plant for compliance with the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant-Waste Acceptance Criteria. The removal of unreacted calcium metal from the waste salt formed during the direct oxide reduction of plutonium oxide to plutonium metal is necessary in order to comply with regulations regarding the transportation and storage of waste material containing flammable substances. Chemical methods of denitrification of simulated low-level nitrate wastes were investigated on a laboratory scale. Methods of inserting the carbon composite filters into presently stored and currently generated radioactive waste drums have been investigated and their sealing efficiencies determined. Analyses of carbon tetrachloride (CCl/sub 4/) recovered from spent lathe coolant revealed contamination levels above usable limits. A handbook covering techniques and processes that have been successfully demonstrated to minimize generation of new transuranic waste is being prepared.

Research Organization:
Rockwell International Corp., Golden, CO (USA). Rocky Flats Plant
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-76DP03533
OSTI ID:
6260089
Report Number(s):
RFP-3682; ON: DE85006352
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English