Process for handling low level radioactive waste
AssigneeDavid R. Elmaleh
InventorDavid Elmaleh
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for the continuous disposal of radioactive waste is disclosed. The process involves (a) separating materials contaminated with radionuclides into categories containing radionuclides with similar half-lives; (b) accumulating radioactive materials for each category in containers over a predetermined time interval; (c) sealing the containers and storing them until the radioactivity is reduced to safe levels; (d) disposing of the material as conventional waste; and (e) repeating steps (a) through (d) with a new batch of material. The method can be practically used to process radioactive wastes having half-lives of up to 50 years.
Claims20
A process for continuous disposal of materials comprising plural different radionuclides, each having a half-life of less than 50 years, the process comprising the steps of:
- a. separating the radionuclides into plural categories, each comprising radionuclides having similar half-lives;
- b. accumulating for a fixed time interval predetermined for each category, radionuclides from each category to form a series of batches of waste in each category, the time interval being different for each category;
- c. placing each batch in a static storage unit and storing the serially accumulated batches in each category for a time period sufficient to reduce the level of radioactivity of the oldest batch in the series to a level permitting disposal of the material as conventional waste;
- d. at the end of the time period in step (c), removing said oldest batch from said storage unit;
- and
- e. repeating steps (a), (b), (c), and (d), in such a way that a new batch of waste is placed in the storage unit from which said oldest batch has been removed for disposal, thereby providing a continuous system for disposal of said waste.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.