Vitrification of underground storage tanks: Technology development, regulatory issues, and cost analysis

摘要

In situ vitrification (ISV), developed by the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) for the US Department of Energy (DOE), is a thermal treatment process for the remediation of hazardous, radioactive, or mixed waste sites. The process has been broadly patented both domestically and abroad. Since the inception of ISV in 1980, developmental activities have been focused on applications to contaminated soils, and more recently the potential for application to buried wastes and underground structures (tanks). Research performed to date on the more advanced ISV applications (i.e., application to buried wastes and underground tanks) shows that significant technical and economic potential exists for using ISV to treat buried wastes and underground structures containing radionuclides and/or hazardous constituents. Present ISV applications are directed to the treatment of contaminated soils; the likelihood of using ISV to treat underground tanks depends on the resolution of significant technical and institutional issues related to this advanced application. This paper describes the ISV process and summarizes the technical progress of underground tank vitrification (UTV), discusses pertinent regulatory issues facing the use of UTV, and presents the potential cost of UTV relative to other remedial action alternatives.