Experience operating a process for decontaminating liquid radioactive waste

This paper addresses experience gained in operating a first-of-its-kind process for decontaminating liquid high-level waste (HLW). West Valley Nuclear Services Company, under subcontract to the US Department of Energy (DOE), has successfully designed, constructed, tested, and operated a system for removing cesium from an HLW salt solution (also called supernatant). To date, >100,000 gal of HLW left over from fuel reprocessing operations formerly conducted at the West Valley site have been safely decontaminated, concentrated, and solidified in cement. The resultant waste form meets all of the requirements of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's 10CFR61 and is suitable for disposal as low-level waste (LLW). The cesium that has been separated from the salt solution will be stored temporarily until it is ready to be fed to a slurry-fed ceramic melter and solidified in borosilicate glass for eventual disposal in the US DOE's HLW repository