Recycling and resource recovery at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

This paper discusses recycling and resource recovery strategies being developed to maintain continued operations at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Several industrial decontamination techniques for minimization, segregation, and recycling of wastes volumes are presented. A wide variety of liquid wastewater streams are generated from the operations of these research facilities. The major chemical constituents -- bicarbonates of calcium, magnesium, and sodium -- are introduced by local river water and shallow drainage wells. Liquid low-level waste (LLLW), generated in support of DOE's nuclear energy technology programs over the past 40 years, are highly contaminated with fission products and transuranic (TRU) elements. These wastes are routinely collected in centralized collection tanks, concentrated by evaporation, and stored for future processing and disposal. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 mandated a nationwide system for the safe management of wastes that have been determined hazardous from their creation of their ultimate disposal (i.e., cradle-to-grave control). The Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HWSA) prohibited the continued placement of RCRA regulated hazardous wastes in or on the land without following Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) treatment standards. The EPA promulgated RCRA-LDR (land-disposal-restricted) regulations, minimizing short- and long-term threats arising from land disposal, will not allow facilities to store mixed LLLW after 1994 (56 FR 42730, August 29, 1991). Tank storage volume capacities are approaching maximum limits while treatment facilities to process and dispose these type wastes have been delayed indefinitely. As a result, these regulations and additional challenges have increased emphasis on recycling and resource recovery. 4 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.