K Basin sludge treatment process description

The K East (KE) and K West (KW) fuel storage basins at the 100 K Area of the Hanford Site contain sludge on the floor, in pits, and inside fuel storage canisters. The major sources of the sludge are corrosion of the fuel elements and steel structures in the basin, sand intrusion from outside the buildings, and degradation of the structural concrete that forms the basins. The decision has been made to dispose of this sludge separate from the fuel elements stored in the basins. The sludge will be treated so that it meets Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) acceptance criteria and can be sent to one of the double-shell waste tanks. The US Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office accepted a recommendation by Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc., to chemically treat the sludge. Sludge treatment will be done by dissolving the fuel constituents in nitric acid, separating the insoluble material, adding neutron absorbers for criticality safety, and reacting the solution with caustic to co-precipitate the uranium and plutonium. A truck will transport the resulting slurry to an underground storage tank (most likely tank 241-AW-105). The undissolved solids will be treated to reduce the transuranic (TRU) and content, stabilized in grout, and transferred to the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility (ERDF) for disposal. This document describes a process for dissolving the sludge to produce waste streams that meet the TWRS acceptance criteria for disposal to an underground waste tank and the ERDF acceptance criteria for disposal of solid waste. The process described is based on a series of engineering studies and laboratory tests outlined in the testing strategy document (Flament 1998)