Exploratory study of complexant concentrate waste processing

The purpose of this exploratory study, conducted by Pacific Northwest Laboratory for Westinghouse Hanford Company, was to determine the effect of applying advanced chemical separations technologies to the processing and disposal of high-level wastes (HLW) stored in underground tanks. The major goals of this study were to determine (1) if the wastes can be partitioned into a small volume of HLW plus a large volume of low-level waste (LLW), and (2) if the activity in the LLW can be lowered enough to meet NRC Class LLW criteria. This report presents the results obtained in a brief scouting study of various processes for separating radionuclides from Hanford complexant concentrate (CC) waste.