Application of molten salt oxidation for the minimization and recovery of plutonium-238 contaminated wastes

Conference · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998

OSTI ID:677042

Wishau, R

Molten salt oxidation (MSO) is proposed as a {sup 238}Pu waste treatment technology that should be developed for volume reduction and recovery of {sup 238}Pu and as an alternative to the transport and permanent disposal of {sup 238}Pu waste to the WIPP repository. In MSO technology, molten sodium carbonate salt at 800--900 C in a reaction vessel acts as a reaction media for wastes. The waste material is destroyed when injected into the molten salt, creating harmless carbon dioxide and steam and a small amount of ash in the spent salt. The spent salt can be treated using aqueous separation methods to reuse the salt and to recover 99.9% of the precious {sup 238}Pu that was in the waste. Tests of MSO technology have shown that the volume of combustible TRU waste can be reduced by a factor of at least twenty. Using this factor the present inventory of 574 TRU drums of {sup 238}Pu contaminated wastes is reduced to 30 drums. Further {sup 238}Pu waste costs of $$22 million are avoided from not having to repackage 312 of the 574 drums to a drum total of more than 4,600 drums. MSO combined with aqueous processing of salts will recover approximately 1.7 kilograms of precious {sup 238}Pu valued at 4 million dollars (at $$2,500/gram). Thus, installation and use of MSO technology at LANL will result in significant cost savings compared to present plans to transport and dispose {sup 238}Pu TRU waste to the WIPP site. Using a total net present value cost for the MSO project as $4.09 million over a five-year lifetime, the project can pay for itself after either recovery of 1.6 kg of Pu or through volume reduction of 818 drums or a combination of the two. These savings show a positive return on investment.

• 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: 677042
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--98-2020; CONF-981121--; ON: DE99000744
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
ALPHA-BEARING WASTES
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
MATERIALS RECOVERY
MOLTEN SALTS
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
OXIDATION
PLUTONIUM 238
SODIUM CARBONATES