ADVANCED REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE DISPOSITION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S RADIOACTIVE TANK WASTE

The US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Environmental Management (EM) is responsible for the cleanup of the nation's nuclear weapons program wastes. In response to congressional direction in 2005, EM inaugurated the Advanced Remediation Technologies (ART) projects to access private sector expertise in order to develop technologies to disposition radioactive waste. This article discusses three ART projects: Cold Crucible Induction Melter (CCIM), Near Tank Treatment System (NTTS), and Fluidized Bed Steam Reforming (FBSR) system. The CCIM was tested at 1,250 degrees C using a simulant representative of DOE tank waste. The test achieved waste loadings of 46 wt%, which is 35% higher than those achieved using a conventional joule heated melter. The NTTS separates the aluminum and cesium from Hanford waste, allowing the leachate to be disposed of as Low Activity Waste (LAW). The project has completed bench-scale testing and has started pilot-scale tests. The FBSR unit was tested using simulated Hanford LAW, completing over 100 h of continuous operation producing a mineralized monolithic product with excellent leach resistance. Results have been encouraging and all three ART technologies may play critical roles in the treatment of radioactive Hanford tank waste.