Tank Closure Cesium Removal at Savannah River Site - 19604

Savannah River Remediation (SRR) has developed a supplemental at-tank ion exchange capability for the removal of cesium from liquid salt waste. Building on the development of previous ion exchange initiatives and the experience of commercial nuclear plant decontamination services, and following the disaster response associated with Fukushima, the technology has matured to deploy a modular at-tank treatment system for the selective removal of cesium from bulk salt waste. If feasible, this Tank Closure Cesium Removal (TCCR) initiative would provide a supplemental treatment capability to existing and future salt processing and improve confidence in supporting the desired acceleration of waste retrieval and tank closure efforts. In addition to accelerating waste retrieval and tank closure activities, demonstration of this capability has several other benefits. Deployment of commercially available technologies with minor modification can expand Department of Energy (DOE) utilization of commercially supplied treatment processes. This 'at-tank' treatment system could be modified to evaluate and demonstrate removal of other radioactive constituents (strontium, technetium, iodine, etc.) of bulk waste. The modular aspect of this capability can allow for additional units to be delivered and deployed at SRS, as well as, provide supplemental treatment capabilities for waste treatment at other DOE sites. (authors)