Results of vitrifying Fernald OU-4 wastes

Conference · Mon Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1993

OSTI ID:6636123

Merrill, R A ^[1]; Janke, D S ^[2]

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1. Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
2. Battelle Memorial Inst., Columbus, OH (United States)

Three silos in Operable Unit 4 (OU-4) at the Feed Materials Production Center in Fernald, Ohio, contain residues from the processing of pitchblende ores. Silos 1 and 2, designated as K-65, contain the depleted ore with a BentoGrout cap over the material to reduce radon emanation, while Silo 3 contains calcined residue from processing solutions. The residues in the three silos contain radium, uranium, uranium daughters, and heavy metals (primarily lead). Vitrification tests were carried out on various mixtures of the above materials and the resulting glasses were analyzed. The vitrified residues all tested non-hazardous'' by the Toxicity Characteristic Leachate Procedure (TCLP) and demonstrated a high degree of durability by the Product Consistency Test (PCT). The specific gravity and radon emanation of both the vitrified and non-vitrified residue were measured. Volume reductions ranging from 50 to 68 percent were obtained while the radon emanation rate was reduced by a factor of about 500,000. Radon emanation from the vitrified residue is of the same order of magnitude as emanation from natural building materials such as brick or concrete.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6636123
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-21856; CONF-930205--50; ON: DE93010167
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052001* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Processing
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ACTINIDES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
DAUGHTER PRODUCTS
DENSITY
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
FLUIDS
GASES
GLASS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INORGANIC ACIDS
ISOTOPES
LEACHATES
LEAD
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MELTING
METALS
MINERALS
MIXTURES
NITRIC ACID
NONMETALS
OXIDE MINERALS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PITCHBLENDE
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE MINERALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADON
RARE GASES
SOLUTIONS
THORIUM
URANINITES
URANIUM
URANIUM MINERALS
VISCOSITY
VITRIFICATION
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES