Ultrasonic cleaning of depleted uranium material as an alternative to nitric acid cleaning
Nitric acid is used to clean depleted uranium in the form of cast billets, and cast and wrought parts in the processing cycle and is the largest contributor of waste to the West End Treatment Facility (WETF). An estimated 27,000 gallons of liquid and 75 to 95% of all uranium received was sent to the WETF for processing from this facility in our baseline year. Because wrought parts account for the largest throughput at the nitric acid facility, an alternative cleaning method for these parts was examined first. Test results on the first part type from the wrought family showed ultrasonic cleaning to be an effective cleaning method. Since the geometry for this part presented the most difficulty in terms of ultrasonic cleaning, the entire wrought family is expected to be moved from the nitric acid facility to the ultrasonic cleaning facility. As a result, there will be an 83% reduction part throughput at the nitric acid facility which corresponds to a significant decrease in wastes sent to the WETF and a reduction in the generation and associated costs of waste overall. This change also eliminated two building moves involving two RAD areas resulting in a part movement reduction of approximately 25% which is a significant cost savings.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant (Y-12), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OS21400
- OSTI ID:
- 5564824
- Report Number(s):
- Y/WP-0002; ON: DE91014249
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Modern Sorters for Soil Segregation on Large Scale Remediation Projects
Ultrasonic cleaning as a replacement for a chlorofluorocarbon-based system. Technical report
Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
DEPLETED URANIUM
CLEANING
LIQUID WASTES
MINIMIZATION
NITRIC ACID
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
ULTRASONIC WAVES
ACTINIDES
ELEMENTS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INORGANIC ACIDS
MATERIALS
METALS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
SOUND WAVES
URANIUM
WASTES
050800* - Nuclear Fuels- Spent Fuels Reprocessing
050900 - Nuclear Fuels- Transport
Handling
& Storage
052001 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Processing