The neutralized high-level waste, stored at the Western New York Nuclear Service Center in West Valley, New York, was produced during the operation of the Nuclear Fuel Service, Inc. commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. The supernatant is a highly concentrated salt solution (NaNO3 , NaOH, Na2SO4 and NaCl) containing essentially all of the dissolved cesium as the primary radioactive component. The sludge is primarily iron and aluminum hydroxides and contains strontium and the bulk of the long-lived isotopes. The supernatant will be treated to remove essentially all of the radioactivity and then be concentrated and disposed of as low level nuclear waste. The following supernatant treatment considerations have been evaluated on a laboratory scale using simulated West Valley waste: 1) Organic ion exchange resins; 2) Inorganic ion exchange media; 3) In-tank processing. These processes will be described and preliminary laboratory data will be presented.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.