Thermal desorption treatability test conducted with VAC*TRAX Unit

In 1992, Congress passed the Federal Facilities Compliance Act, requiring the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to treat and dispose of its mixed waste in accordance with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) treatment standards. In response to the need for mixed-waste treatment capacity, where off-site commercial treatment facilities do not exist or cannot be used, the DOE Albuquerque Operations Office (DOE-AL) organized a Treatment Selection Team to match mixed waste with treatment options and develop a strategy for treatment of mixed waste. DOE-AL manages nine sites with mixed-waste inventories. The Treatment Selection Team determined a need to develop mobile treatment units (MTUs) to treat waste at the sites where the wastes are generated. Treatment processes used for mixed wastes must remove the hazardous component (i.e., meet RCRA treatment standards) and contain the radioactive component in a form that will protect the worker, public, and environment. On the basis of the recommendations of the Treatment Selection Team, DOE-AL assigned projects to the sites to bring mixed-waste treatment capacity on-line. The three technologies assigned to the DOE Grand Junction Projects Office (DOE-GJPO) include thermal desorption (TD), evaporative oxidation, and waste water evaporation