Nuclear and hazardous waste may need to be processed for several
reasons;
- minimize worker and public exposure to the hazards associate
with the waste, or
- comply with state and federal regulatory requirements, or
- separate waste types to conform with Treatment Storage and
Disposal Facilities (TSDF) Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC)
requirements, or
- minimize volume to reduce transportation and disposal costs.
Nuclear and hazardous waste must be isolated to eliminate the
possibility of exposure to the public or the environment. Any
failure is not acceptable. Regulatory requirements have been
developed and implemented to ensure public and environmental
protection from hazardous materials such as nuclear wastes.
WESKEM has an extensively trained and experienced staff that have
processed many millions of kilograms of nuclear and hazardous
waste under federal and state regulations. WESKEM has an excellent
employee safety record and has experienced no instance of loss
of control of nuclear or hazardous waste in our history.
Nuclear and hazardous waste management and processing costs
are very high but can often be minimized with proper planning,
waste classification and working training. Unfortunately, integration
of these proven waste management practices into overall project
planning is often not effectively accomplished. In many cases,
waste processing is required because wastes that should have
been segregated at the point of generation were commingled and
must be separated to comply with regulatory requirements or TSDF
WAC requirements.
WESKEM works with our clients to integrate sound waste management
practices and full waste life cycle analysis into all phases
of our projects so overall waste management and waste processing
costs are minimized.
Many different waste processing technologies and methods are
available to waste generators such as; sizing, compaction, filtration,
decontamination, evaporation, separation, incineration, vitrification,
stabilization, recycle/recovery, encapsulation and chemical treatment.
The waste physical, chemical and radiological characteristics
must be known and evaluated to determine the best value processing
solution.
WESKEM routinely evaluates waste processing methods using proven
cost/benefit analysis to determine the most cost effective processing
and packaging approach for each waste stream. The WESKEM staff
has processed nuclear, mixed and hazardous waste including shock
sensitive wastes and has direct contracts with commercial processors
to provide our clients the full range of waste processing technologies
and options. |
