Salt treatment Fukushima

The Task of NUKEM Technologies GmbH is to develop a technical solution for the treatment of salt containing effluents at Fukushima Daiichi. The target of the treatment is a solidified product suitable for the safe storage on site. Therefore, NUKEM investigated several technologies (direct cementation, drying and storage, drying and subsequent cementation) in order to find a fit for purpose solution. The following tasks have been considered: (a) Mechanical strength and homogeneity of the product; (b) Cost efficient solution (cost for the drying system vs. reduced amount of storage containers); (c) Proven technology; (d) On site storage. NUKEM made some practical test in parallel with different recipes. The aim was to embed as much as possible salt quantity into the cement matrix, but still meet the requested mechanical strength and required homogeneity. As a result NUKEM recommended to apply the following technologies (a) a drying system, to produce a dry salt product (b) a cementation facility, to generate a homogeneous salt/cement matrix (c) a filling station with attached CMS (Container measuring station) to fill the resulting cement/salt matrix into containers suitable for the storage at Fukushima Daiichi. (orig.)