Report on technical and economic factors in the beneficial use of radiation in municipal sludge management

There is a pressing need for a national program for the beneficial recycling of sludge, since an estimated 10 million tons of sludge will soon be generated each year in this country. Such a program will require the cooperation of many federal, state, and local agencies, but promises economic returns that can be measured in hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sponsored this study to assess the role that radiation processing of sewage sludge can play in beneficial recycling in agriculture and animal husbandry. The study was done by an interdisciplinary team, drawn from Sandia Laboratories, Battelle-Pacific Northwest Laboratories, and Arthur D. Little, Inc., experienced in technology development and assessment, sanitary engineering, and economic analysis. The team reviewed pertinent literature and developed a case-study approach of major sewage-treatment facilities across the United States. The benefits to be derived and the costs and risks involved in radiation processing of sewage sludge were determined. Two processes were found to be reasonably available to recycle raw sludges. One method is to filter-press and flash-dry activated sludge, and the other is to vacuum-filter, compost, and then irradiate raw, primary, and activated sludges