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Characterization
| Closure | Immobilization
| Other
| Pretreatment | Retrieval |
Safety
Because of the exposure risks posed by radioactive tank waste, a remote-controlled methods must be used to retrieve the waste. The basic method for retrieving waste has been sluicing, which entails adding large volumes of water into the tanks so that the waste can be "flushed" out and transferred to treatment facilities. This method is effective on much of the waste, but suffers from two drawbacks: first, water is added to tanks, increasing the waste volume and the potential for tank leaks; and second, sluicing is not as effective on very hard wastes. Therefore, alternative methods of waste retrieval must be developed that minimize water addition to the tanks and successfully retrieve hard-to-sluice wastes. This is especially important as the tanks get older and their structural integrity begins to decline.
In addition to the challenge of retrieving difficult wastes in a radioactive environment, retrieval also includes the problem of the tank design itself. Typical radioactive waste tanks are covered by an average of 10 feet of soil. Tools that are used to retrieve the waste must be able to enter the tanks through small openings called risers in the tops of the tanks. Risers can range anywhere from 2 inches to 2 feet in diameter, severely limiting the size of remotely operated retrieval
equipment.
Documents and photos related to Retrieval
are available from the following links:
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