Radwaste precoat filter optimization at Grand Gulf

Like most BWR's, precoat filters are used in the Grand Gulf radwaste system for the treatment of floor and equipment drain wastes. The precoat and body feed materials from these filters generally contribute a large fraction of the total solid waste volume which must be shipped to a low-level waste disposal site. At Grand Gulf, the filter sludges from these two filters constituted nearly half of the total wet waste prior to the optimization of the filters. This paper describes a joint SERI-EPRI program to optimize the performance of the Grand Gulf radwaste filters. The objective of the optimization effort is to reduce the volume of wastes produced by the two radwaste filters using operational changes to the filters rather than hardware or equipment modifications. This paper reports the results of laboratory and full-scale testing at Grand Gulf to optimize the equipment and floor drain filters