Advanced pyrochemical technologies for minimizing nuclear waste
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking to reduce the size of the current nuclear weapons complex and consequently minimize operating costs. To meet this DOE objective, the national laboratories have been asked to develop advanced technologies that take uranium and plutonium from retired weapons and prepare it for new weapons, long-term storage, and/or final disposition. Current pyrochemical processes generate residue salts and ceramic wastes that require aqueous processing to remove and recover the actinides. However, the aqueous treatment of these residues generates an estimated 100 l of acidic transuranic (TRU) waste per kilogram of plutonium in the residue. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is developing pyrochemical techniques to eliminate, minimize, or more efficiently treat these residue streams. This paper presents technologies being developed at LLNL on advanced materials for actinide containment, reactors that minimize residues, and pyrochemical processes that remove actinides from waste salts.
- OSTI ID:
- 75900
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-940602--
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 70; ISSN TANSAO; ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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