Premium
Remediation of uranium‐contaminated soil using the segmented gate system and containerized vat leaching techniques: A cost‐effectiveness study
Author(s) -
Cummings Mark,
Booth Steven R.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
remediation journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.762
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 1520-6831
pISSN - 1051-5658
DOI - 10.1002/rem.3440070102
Subject(s) - contamination , leaching (pedology) , environmental science , leachate , environmental remediation , soil contamination , uranium , waste management , soil water , remedial action , radioactive waste , soil test , environmental engineering , engineering , soil science , materials science , metallurgy , ecology , biology
Using an innovative, two‐stage process to remediate uranium‐contaminated soils, researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory's (LANL's) Technical Area 33 (TA‐33) successively reduced 218 cubic yards of contaminated soil to approximately 30 gallons of leachate solution and resins. In the first step, the contaminated soil is separated from the clean soil using the Thermo Nuclean (a division of the Thermo NUtech company) Segmented Gate System (SGS). Contaminated soil proceeds via conveyor belt to a separate storage bin to await further processing, while uncontaminated soil is returned to its original location. From the 218 cubic yards of soil excavated from the test site at TA‐33, only seven cubic yards were found to contain uranium contamination above the criterion release limit, yielding an initial waste volume reduction of 97 percent. Using the containerized vat leaching (CVL) method, a technique borrowed from the mining industry, the uranium was then removed from the reduced volume of contaminated soil. This article describes the two processes and analyzes potential cost savings based on different disposal and storage options.