Elimination of liquid discharge to the environment from the TA-50 Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility

Technical Report · Mon Jun 01 04:00:00 UTC 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/661523· OSTI ID:661523

Moss, D; Williams, N; Hall, D; Hargis, K; Saladen, M; Sanders, M; Voit, S; Worland, P; Yarbro, S

Alternatives were evaluated for management of treated radioactive liquid waste from the radioactive liquid waste treatment facility (RLWTF) at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The alternatives included continued discharge into Mortandad Canyon, diversion to the sanitary wastewater treatment facility and discharge of its effluent to Sandia Canyon or Canada del Buey, and zero liquid discharge. Implementation of a zero liquid discharge system is recommended in addition to two phases of upgrades currently under way. Three additional phases of upgrades to the present radioactive liquid waste system are proposed to accomplish zero liquid discharge. The first phase involves minimization of liquid waste generation, along with improved characterization and monitoring of the remaining liquid waste. The second phase removes dissolved salts from the reverse osmosis concentrate stream to yield a higher effluent quality. In the final phase, the high-quality effluent is reused for industrial purposes within the Laboratory or evaporated. Completion of these three phases will result in zero discharge of treated radioactive liquid wastewater from the RLWTF.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Management and Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 661523
• Report Number(s): LA--13452-MS; ON: DE98007275
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
COMPILED DATA
LANL
LIQUID WASTES
NUMERICAL DATA
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE WATER