Treatment feasibility of highly alkaline and highly radioactive liquid waste—a novel approach

Typical Radioactive liquid waste with high alkalinity, high concentration of solvent degradation products along with high 134+137 Cs content was generated during plant operation. Management of such a radioactive liquid waste is a challenging job using available conventional methods. Selective removal of Cs was carried out by precipitating with sodium tetraphenyl boron. More than 95% of Cs is getting removed during precipitation. The downstream generated after Cs removal can be managed by conventional ion exchange process followed by chemical co-precipitation for removal of residual Cs and other radionuclides. Final effluent stream is qualifying for environmental discharge. Present paper describes the scheme worked out for managing such legacy waste in the existing infrastructure of the facility without making much modification.