Treatment feasibility of the aqueous alkaline intermediate level radioactive liquid waste stored along with organic waste after extraction of TBP degraded products

TBP-Dodecane mixture is used for separation of uranium and plutonium by solvent extraction from spent fuel. Degraded products of tributyl phosphate (TBP) like dibutyl phosphate (DBP) and monobutyl phosphate (MBP) are formed during solvent extraction. Sodium carbonate is being used to clean up the TBP solvent. This radioactive aqueous sodium carbonate wash is stored in a separate tank along with organic waste. The presence of degrade products of TBP are creating problem for ion exchange treatment of this waste. To solve this problem degraded products of TBP are removed by solvent extraction using discarded TBP phase. The present paper deals the treatment procedure for this aqueous phase after removal of degraded products of TBP. The treatment involves co-precipitation of alpha activity using optimum concentration of additional uranium to get required alpha DF. Removal of fission products by ion exchange using resorcinol formaldehyde resin followed by chemical treatment to get sufficient DF with respect to fission products prior to discharge is also studied. (author)