Developing waste disposal options in the underground storage tank - integrated demonstration program

The principal objective of the Underground Storage Tank - Integrated Demonstration (UST-ID Program is the demonstration and continued development of technologies suitable for the remediation of USTs. The most promising new technologies from industry, universities, national laboratories, and other government agencies are selected for demonstration, testing, and evaluation. The objective is the eventual transfer of new technologies as part of a system to full-scale remediation at US Department of Energy (DOE) sites and alternately into the private sector. Technologies under development in the UST-ID Program are targeted toward use in remediation actions at the following five DOE participant sites: Hanford, Fernald, Idaho, Oak Ridge, and Savannah River. Combined, these participant sites have more than 300 USTs containing more than 381,800 m3 (100 Mgal) of high-level and low-level radioactive liquid waste. This paper focuses on the Low-Level Waste Disposal area of the UST-ID, summarizing the two currently funded technology development projects: the Nitrate to Ammonia and Ceramic (NAC) Process and Polyethylene Encapsulation. Both technologies are considered options to the-current baseline disposal approaches being developed at the participant sites. For the Hanford Site, this baseline is a grout waste form that is nearing implementation for disposal of low-level liquid tank wastes