FUTURE TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL OF AQUEOUS ACTINIDE CONTAMINATED WASTE AT AWE ALDERMASTON
AWE Aldermaston has provided and maintained the warheads for the Untied Kingdom's nuclear deterrent for over 50 years. AWE's activities necessarily involve the use of radioactive materials and low levels of radioactivity are discharged to the environment, some of it in radioactive aqueous waste and the remainder in aerial discharges. A key part of AWE's Environmental, Safety and Health Policy to ensure ''that our actions cause no harm to the environment, public or employees'' and there is a commitment to continue to drive down AWE's discharge of radioactivity to the environment. As part of this policy AWE have made a commitment to cease discharge, by April 2005, of treated radioactive aqueous effluent, via a dedicated pipeline to the River Thames. This paper sets out how AWE have approached this challenge and how the best practicable environmental option (BPEO) for the management and disposal of AWE's radioactive aqueous wastes was identified. The BPEO identified that wastes whose radioactivity is predominantly due to the presence of actinides should be treated separately to those containing predominantly tritium. This is because of the very different behavior of tritium compared to actinides. A separate strategy has been developed for these tritiated wastes, but is not covered within this paper. The proposed treatment process for actinide contaminated aqueous waste is condensing evaporation followed by membrane filtration of the condensate. The evaporator concentrate will be solidified and the permeate will be discharged as nonradioactive trade waste. The paper highlights the importance in the decision making process of the identification of the sources of actinide contaminated radioactive aqueous waste on the AWE site and an understanding of the waste collection system. It also considers the important roles waste characterization, waste minimization, decommissioning, changes in work practices, stakeholder participation and implementation of best practice have played in arriving at a cost effective solution for the management of actinide contaminated aqueous wastes at AWE Aldermaston.
- Research Organization:
- AWE Aldermaston, Reading, RG7 4PR (GB)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 827290
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Waste Management 2003 Symposium, Tucson, AZ (US), 02/23/2003--02/27/2003; Other Information: PBD: 27 Feb 2003
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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