Removal of Technetium from Hanford Tank Waste Supernates

Abstract

Abstract:SuperLig® 639 ion exchange resin manufactured by IBC Technologies is currently being evaluated for technetium removal from Hanford tank-waste supernates as part of the design for the U.S. Department of Energy/Office of River Protection Project—Waste Treatment Plant. Small-scale testing of the SuperLig® 639 was performed with four Hanford tank-waste supernates using a dual-column configuration, each containing a 5-mL resin bed. Two tank-waste supernates exhibited a high fraction of nonextractable technetium (nonpertechnctate): AN-102/C-104 was 50% nonper-technetate, and AP-104 was 69% nonpertechnetate. The pertechnetate removal was excellent for all tested supernates, showing an average of 99% removal for supernates that were essentially all pertechnetate and >86% removal for supernates that contained a high fraction of nonpertechnetate. The column elution was effective using 65°C water, resulting in 99% elution on average within 16 bed volumes of eluant.