Pretreatment process testing of Hanford tank waste for the US Department of Energy`s Underground Storage Tank Integrated Demonstration

Conference · Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:10184521

Jones, E O; Colton, N G ^[1]; Bloom, G R; Barney, G S; Colby, S A; Cowan, R G ^[2]

---

1. Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
2. Westinghouse Hanford Co., Richland, WA (United States)

Work conducted for the Underground Storage Tank Integrated Demonstration supports technology demonstration for tank remediation operations at the US Department of Energy`s (DOE) Hanford Site and other DOE sites. Several technical areas within the demonstration are being investigated by the Waste Pretreatment Technology Development task to support final treatment and disposal of Hanford tank waste. The experimental work includes waste characterizations; dissolution, leaching and extraction tests; bulk salt separations by freeze crystallization; and radiochemical separations with extraction chromatography resins. Chemical species and particle size data provide background information for interpreting waste leaching and dissolution data. Tie major crystalline phases in one single-shell tank (SST) waste are sodium nitrate and bismuth phosphate, while the major phases in another SST waste are boehmite, gibbsite, and sodium nitrate. A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) method of particle size analysis shows that many of the sub-micron particles in the two SST wastes appear to be aggregates of smaller, spheroidal particles. In turn, leaching, dissolution, and extraction studies, performed with tank wastes, provide fundamental information needed to evaluate existing pretreatment technologies. Preliminary results from the dissolution of one SST waste indicate that 2M nitric acid may effectively leach enough transuranic material that the sludge could be disposed of as low level waste.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 10184521
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-20941; CONF-920851-75; ON: DE92041328
• Resource Relation: Conference: Spectrum `92: nuclear and hazardous waste management international topical meeting,Boise, ID (United States),23-27 Aug 1992; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1992
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
HANFORD RESERVATION
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
TANKS
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS
FERROCYANIDES
PARTICLE SIZE
EXTRACTION
ALUMINIUM NITRATES
NITRIC ACID
AMERICIUM
CHROMATOGRAPHY
CRYSTALLIZATION
052001
WASTE PROCESSING