Uranium Sorption on Sodium Aluminosilicates and Gibbsite
At the Savannah River Site (SRS), the High-Level Waste (HLW) Tank Farms store and process high-level liquid radioactive wastes from the Canyons and recycle water from the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). The waste is concentrated using evaporators to minimize the volume of space required for HLW storage. After evaporation, the waste concentrate is transferred to one or more receipt storage tanks. Recently, the 2H Evaporator was shutdown due to the crystallization of sodium aluminosilicates (NAS) solids that contained elementally enriched uranium (U) precipitates. The scale deposits resided on the evaporator walls and other exposed internal surfaces within the evaporator pot. Little is known about U interactions with NAS in HLW solutions. Hence, this research was conducted to improve our basic understanding of one possible mechanism for U accumulation in the evaporators and in other SRS process areas. These studies will help support the basis for the continued safe operation of SRS evaporators and provide information on other issues associated with U behavior in the tank farms. For example, the knowledge of such fundamental information could help mitigate U accumulation during evaporator operation and optimize saltcake dissolution.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-96SR18500
- OSTI ID:
- 807916
- Report Number(s):
- WSRC-TR-2002-00394; TRN: US0302141
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 11 Feb 2003
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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