Soluble High-Level Waste Decontamination and Disposal at the Savannah River Site

by D. D. Walker, Westinghouse Savannah River Co, United States,
E. L. Wilhite, Westinghouse Savannah River Co, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: High Level Radioactive Waste Management 1990

Abstract:

The high-level radioactive waste that has accumulated at the Savannah River Site is stored in large underground steel tanks. Programs to remove the soluble waste from the storage tanks, decontaminate it by removing cesium and strontium, and dispose of the resulting low-level alkaline salt solution are currently underway or under construction. The high-level waste solution will be decontaminated using the in-tank precipitation process. The radioactive cesium and strontium removed from the soluble waste will be immobilized in borosilicate glass in the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). The decontaminated salt solution will be incorporated into a cement wasteform, saltstone, and placed in surface vaults. Recent modifications and the current status of the in-tank precipitation and the saltstone processes are described.

Subject Headings: Radioactive wastes | Waste disposal | Industrial wastes | Solubility | Materials processing | Waste sites | Storage tanks

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