Magnetic separation for treatment of caustic waste

Magnetic Separation can be applied to selectively extract actinide contaminants from liquid waste streams and to concentrate these toxic materials into a low volume waste stream. LANL's Plutonium Processing Facility generates more than 80% of the total radioactive containing liquid waste treated at the LANL Waste Water Treatment Facility. This effluent is then combined with other liquid waste for continued treatment. Preliminary experimental results on contaminated waste water indicate that 99 to 99.9% extraction of Pu activity can be achieved using HGMS. This represents decontamination levels of ∼3 orders of magnitude to levels of 200 to 10 pCi/L. This technology could potentially reduce the Plutonium Facility radioactive waste stream effluents to levels acceptable for industrial waste stream limits