Sorbent Testing for Solidification of Organic Plutonium/Uranium Extraction Waste - Phase IV

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is evaluating various sorbents to solidify and immobilize hazardous constituents of the organic fraction of plutonium/uranium extraction (PUREX) process waste at the Savannah River Site (SRS).[5] The purpose of the solidification is to provide a cost-effective alternative to incineration of the waste. Incineration at the Consolidated Incinerator Facility (CIF) at SRS is currently identified as the treatment technology for PUREX waste. However, the CIF is not in operation at this time, so SRS is interested in pursuing alternatives to incineration for treatment of this waste. The DOE Western Environmental Technology Office in Butte, MT was designated as the facility for conducting the sorbent testing and evaluation for the organic PUREX waste surrogate. MSE Technology Applications, Inc. tested and evaluated two clay and two polymer sorbents with the capability of solidifying organic PUREX waste. A surrogate organic PUREX waste recipe was utilized, and sorbents were tested and evaluated at bench-scale, 22-liter (5-gallon) scale, and 242-liter (55-gallon) scale. This paper presents experimental results evaluating four sorbent materials including: Imbiber BeadsTM IMB230301-R, Nochar A610 PetrobondTM, Petroset IITM, and Petroset II GranularTM. Previous work at SRS indicated that these products could solidify organic PUREX waste on a bench scale [1]. The sorbents were evaluated using operational criteria and final wasteform properties. Operational criteria included: sorbent capacity; sorption rate; sorbent handling; and mixing requirements. Final wasteform evaluation properties included: ignitability; thermal stability; offgas generation, leachability tests and volumetric expansion. Bench-scale tests, 22-liter (5-gallon) tests, and initial 242-liter (55-gallon) tests are complete. This paper summarizes the results of the bench-scale, 22-liter (5-gallon) scale, and 242-liter (55-gallon) scale tests performed during FY05 with an aqueous/PUREX surrogate. (authors)