High energy decomposition of halogenated hydrocarbons

The purpose of this effort is to demonstrate a viable process for breaking down hazardous halogenated organic wastes to simpler, non-hazardous wastes using high energy ionizing radiation. The INEL effort focuses on the use of spent reactor fuel gamma radiation sources to decompose complex wastes such as PCBs. The INEL irradiation experiments concentrated on a single PCB congener so that a limited set of decomposition reactions could be studied. The congener 1, 2', 3, 3', 4, 5', 6, 6' - octachlorobiphenyl was examined followed exposure to various gamma doses at the ATR spent fuel pool. The decomposition rates and products in several solvents are discussed. 7 refs., 5 figs., 3 tabs