Sandia Solidification Process: A Broad Range Aqueous Waste Solidification Method.

摘要

New ion-exchange materials of the hydrous oxide type were developed for solidifying aqueous radioactive wastes. These materials have the general formula M(M'/sub x/O/sub y/H/sub z/)/sub n/, where M is an exchangeable cation of charge +n and M' may be Ti; Nb; Zr, or Ta. Affinities for polyvalent cations were found to be very high and ion-exchange capacities large (e.g., 4.0--4.5 meq/g for NaTi sub 2 O sub 5 H depending on moisture content). The effectiveness of the exchangers for solidifying high-level waste resulting from reprocessing light-water reactor fuel was demonstrated in small-scale tests. Used in conjunction with anion exchange resin, these materials reduced test solution radioactivity from approximately 0.2 Ci/ml to as low as approximately 2 nCi/ml. The residual radioactivity was almost exclusively due to exp 106 Ru and total alpha -activity was only a few pCi/ml. Alternative methods of consolidating the solidified waste were evaluated using nonradioactive simulants. Best results were obtained by pressure-sintering which yielded essentially fully dense ceramics, e.g., titanate/titania ceramics with bulk density as high as 4.7 g/cm exp 3 , waste oxide content as high as 1.2 g/cm exp 3 , and leach resistance comparable to good borosilicate glass. Based on the above results, a baseline process for solidifying high-level waste was defined and approximate economic analyses indicated costs were not prohibitive. Additional tests have demonstrated that, if desired, operating conditions could be modified to allow recovery of radiocesium (and perhaps other isotopes) during solidification of the remaining constituents of high-level waste. Preliminary tests have also shown that these materials offer promise for treating tank-stored neutralized wastes.