TRU WASTE MINIMIZATION DURING HOT CELL DECOMMISSIONING

摘要

A commercial closed-loop cleaning system based on the SonatolTM process has been adapted todecontaminate a wide variety of TRU level contaminated materials for disposal as Low LevelWaste (LLW). The computer-controlled, remotely operated system incorporates an ultrasonicbath cleaning with surfactant, heat, and recirculating fluid flow to transfer radioactivelycontaminated particles away from contaminated items and into a collection filter. The Sonatolsystem’s re-circulating design optimizes the loading factor of the collection filter andcontinuously recycles the working fluid. The resulting TRU contaminated collection filters aredesigned to facilitate characterization according to the waste acceptance criteria of the WasteIsolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). This paper will discuss the design challenges faced in thedevelopment of the cleaning system and the solutions adopted by the design team.