Strategies for Managing Unique Waste Streams Resulting from Heavy Isotope Production and Advanced Fuel Cycle Development Programs at ORNL - 22298

ORNL is the DOE center for the production, storage, and distribution of TRU isotopes in addition to having several other research programs that generate TRU waste streams at the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center. These include growing production of radioisotopes, including medical isotopes, industrial isotopes such as Cf-252, Pu-238 for deep-space missions, and advanced nuclear fuel development studies. As production rates increase and feedstock materials change, ORNL faces increasing challenges to address these TRU waste streams. This paper describes the strategies being developed to handle the waste and provides a detailed example of how the strategy is being implemented to use monosodium titanate/hydrous titanium oxide microspheres to extract plutonium from a caustic aluminum dejacketing solution. (authors)