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Salt Cake Waste Fractional Crystallization and Displacement Washing


EMSL Project ID
9991

Abstract

New methods to separate sodium salts of nitrate, nitrite, carbonate, and sulfate from salt-cake waste at DOE’s Hanford Site in Washington State will be investigated. These salts make up the bulk of the radioactive waste stored in Hanford's single-shell tanks. To support Hanford's Mission Acceleration Initiative, these low-activity salts will be separated from the main radionuclides, cesium-137 and technetium-99, so the salts can be processed in a supplemental treatment system rather than in the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant (WTP), which is designed to treat high-activity waste such as the cesium-137 and technetium-99. Separation of the sulfate waste fractions and diversion from the WTP will reduce the load on the facility and allow it to operate faster and more efficiently.

Project Details

Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2004-08-04
End Date
2005-08-09
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Gary Josephson
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Related Publications

Axial Dispersion During Hanford Saltcake Washing
Josephson GB, J Geeting, DL Lessor, and RA Peterson. 2005. "Axial Dispersion in Porous Media Flow through Hanford Saltcake Simulant." Presented by Gary Josephson, or John Geeting at Fourteenth Symposium on Separation Science and Technology for Energy Applications, Gatlinburg, TN on October 26, 2005. PNNL-SA-47197.