Demonstration of the TRUEX process for the treatment of actual high activity tank waste at the INEEL using centrifugal contactors
The Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP), located at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), formerly reprocessed spent nuclear fuel to recover fissionable uranium. The radioactive raffinates from the solvent extraction uranium recovery processes were converted to granular solids (calcine) in a high temperature fluidized bed. A secondary liquid waste stream was generated during the course of reprocessing, primarily from equipment decontamination between campaigns and solvent wash activities. This acidic tank waste cannot be directly calcined due to the high sodium content and has historically been blended with reprocessing raffinates or non-radioactive aluminum nitrate prior to calcination. Fuel reprocessing activities are no longer being performed at the ICPP, thereby eliminating the option of waste blending to deplete the waste inventory. Currently, approximately 5.7 million liters of high-activity waste are temporarily stored at the ICPP in large underground stainless-steel tanks. The United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare filed a Notice of Noncompliance in 1992 contending some of the underground waste storage tanks do not meet secondary containment. As part of a 1995 agreement between the State of Idaho, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Navy, the waste must be removed from the tanks by 2012. Treatment of the tank waste inventories by partitioning the radionuclides and immobilizing the resulting high-activity and low-activity waste streams is currently under evaluation. A recent peer review identified the most promising radionuclide separation technologies for evaluation. The Transuranic Extraction-(TRUEX) process was identified as a primary candidate for separation of the actinides from ICPP tank waste.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC07-94ID13223
- OSTI ID:
- 604377
- Report Number(s):
- INEEL/CON-97-01042; CONF-970962-; ON: DE98050366; TRN: 98:005460
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 214. American Chemical Society meeting, Las Vegas, NV (United States), 7-13 Sep 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Baseline TRUEX Flowsheet Development for the Removal of the Actinides from Dissolved INTEC Calcine Using Centrifugal Contactors
Baseline TRUEX Flowsheet Development for the Removal of the Actinides from Dissolved INTEC Calcine Using Centrifugal Contactors