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First Results of In-Can Microwave Processing Experiments for Radioactive Liquid Wastes at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2011

T. L. White ,
E. L. Youngblood ,
J. B. Berry  and
A. J. Mattus
T. L. White
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P. O. Box 2009, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-8071
E. L. Youngblood
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P. O. Box 2009, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-8071
J. B. Berry
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P. O. Box 2009, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-8071
A. J. Mattus
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P. O. Box 2009, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-8071
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Abstract

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Waste Handling and Packaging Plant is developing a microwave process to reduce and solidify remote-handled transuranic (RH-TRU) liquids and sludges presently stored in large tanks at ORNL. Testing has recently begun on an in-drum microwave process using nonradioactive RH-TRU surrogates. The microwave process development effort has focused on an in-drum process to dry the RH-TRU liquids and sludges in the final storage container and then melt the salt residues to form a solid monolith. A 1/3-scale proprietary microwave applicator was designed, fabricated, and tested to demonstrate the essential features of the microwave design and to provide input into the design of the fullscale applicator. Conductivity cell measurements suggest that the microwave energy heats near the surface of the surrogate over a wide range of temperatures. The final wasteform meets the waste acceptance criteria for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, a federal repository for defense transuranic wastes near Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 189: Symposium L – Microwave Processing of Materials II , 1990 , 91
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1991

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Footnotes

*

Research sponsored by the Office of Defense Waste and Transportation Management, U.S. Department of Energy, under contract DE-AC05-84OR21400 with Martin Marietta Energy Systems Inc.

References

REFERENCES

1. TURNER, D. W., BERRY, J. B., MOORE, J. W., and LENNON, D. L., “An Overview of the ORNL Waste Handling and Packaging Plant,” Waste Management '90, Tucson, Arizona, February 25-March 1, 1990, Arizona Board of Regents (1990).Google Scholar
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