Removal and treatment of radioactive, organochlorine and heavy metal contaminants from solid surfaces
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is defining decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) obligations at its sites. Current D&D activities are Generally labor intensive, use chemical reagents that are difficult to treat, and may expose workers to radioactive and hazardous chemicals. Therefore, new technologies are desired that minimize waste, allow much of the decommissioned materials to be reused rather than disposed of as waste, and produce wastes that will meet disposal criteria The O`Brien & Gere Companies tested a scouring decontamination system on concrete and steel surfaces contaminated with radioactive and hazardous wastes under the sponsorship of Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. (MMES) at DOE`s K-25 former gaseous diffusion plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The scouring system that O`Brien & Gere Companies developed removes fixed radioactive and hazardous surface contamination, while leaving the surface intact. Blasting residuals are dissolved and treated using physical/chemical processes. Bench- and pilot-scale testing of the soda blasting system was conducted between December 1993 and September 1994 on surfaces contaminated with uranium, technetium, heavy metals, and PCBs. Areas of concrete and metal surfaces were blasted. Blasting residuals were dissolved in tap water and treated for radioactive, hazardous, and organochlorine constituents. The treatment system comprised pH adjustment, aeration, solids settling, filtration, carbon adsorption, and ion exchange. This system produced treated water and residual solid waste. Testing demonstrated that the system is capable of removing greater than 95% of radioactive and PCB surface contamination to below DOE`s unrestricted use release limits; aqueous radionuclides, heavy metals, and PCBs were below DOE and USEPA treatment objectives after blasting residuals treatment. Waste residuals volume was decreased by 71%.
- OSTI ID:
- 416904
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-951023-; TRN: 97:001744
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 68. annual conference and exposition of the Water Environment Federation, Miami Beach, FL (United States), 21-25 Oct 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of WEFTEC `95: 68th annual conference & exposition; PB: 498 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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