Processing results of 1800 gallons of mercury and radioactively contaminated mixed waste rinse solution.

摘要

Mercury-contaminated rinse solution was successfully treated at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. This waste was generated during the decontamination of the Heat Transfer Reactor Experiment 3 reactor shield tank. Approximately 6.8 m(sup 3) (1,800 pi) of waste was generated and placed into 33 drums. Each drum contained precipitated sludge material ranging from 2--5 cm in depth, with the average depth of about 6 cm. The pH of each drum varied from 3--11. The bulk liquid waste had a mercury level of 7.0 mg/l, which exceeded the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act limit of 0.2 mg/l. The average liquid bulk radioactivity was about 2.1 pCi/mL while the average sludge contamination was about 13,800 pCi/g. Treatment of the waste required separation of the liquid from the sludge, filtration, pH adjustment, and ion exchange. The resulting solution after treatment had mercury levels at 0.0186 mg/l and radioactivity of 0.282 pCi/ml.