SELECTION OF PRETREATMENT PROCESSES FOR REMOVAL OF RADIONUCLIDES FROM HANFORD TANK WASTE

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's), Office of River Protection (ORP) located at Hanford Washington has established a contract (1) to design, construct, and commission a new Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) that will treat and immobilize the Hanford tank wastes for ultimate disposal. The WTP is comprised of four major elements, pretreatment, LAW immobilization, HLW immobilization, and balance of plant facilities. This paper describes the technologies selected for pretreatment of the LAW and HLW tank wastes, how these technologies were selected, and identifies the major technology testing activities being conducted to finalize the design of the WTP.